“We responded well from a real tough loss last night,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “That’s what a coach always looks for. It was great to come out angry enough to try to put last night out of their heads. We played well most of the night, but a lot of the fuel for that came from last night.”

Tony Parker added 18 points and 10 assists as the Spurs’ starting guards combined to make 15 of 22 shots against the Knicks’ dismal perimeter defense. Finley was 8-of-12 in another start in place of Manu Ginobili, and Parker was 7-for-10.

The guards were so good that the Spurs didn’t even need much from Tim Duncan, who played only 22 minutes and scored 13 points.

“We attack the game in many different ways,” Duncan said. “Some nights it’s interior, but a lot of it is our pick-and-roll and finding our shooters. If they’re going to play the pick-and-roll a certain way or double team in the post, our shooters are going to have wide-open shots, and we have some of the best in the league.”