MINNEAPOLIS _ Mere mortals at home at AT&T Center, the San Antonio Spurs remained perfect on the road with Tuesday's 105-91 victory over the Timberwolves at Target Center.
Even if San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich might still have been as confused as he sounded following Monday's victory at Milwaukee.
The Spurs now are 13-0 away from home after they recovered from an early 10-point deficit and just kept going, even without star guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
They did so with forward Kawhi Leonard _ the franchise's heir apparent to David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Ginobili and Parker _ scoring 31 points while the Wolves were led by Zach LaVine's 25.
Rookie Kris Dunn provided a career-high 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting off the Wolves' bench as well.
Parker did not play for the third time in four games. He was ruled out Tuesday morning because of a knee contusion sustained in Milwaukee the night before.
Ginobili was in uniform Tuesday night, but did not play on the second night of back-to-back games.
Without them, Popovich simply plugged 26-year-old Argentinian rookie point guard Nico Laprovittola into the starting lineup and relied more upon Kyle Anderson, a former UCLA teammate of Wolves swingman Shabazz Muhammad.
The Spurs arrived at Target Center perfect on the road at 12-0, but only 5-4 at home after they somehow won in the final moments 97-96 Monday night at Milwaukee.
Entering Tuesday, the Spurs score 16 points more a game on the road than at home. They're also No. 1 in the NBA in offense when on the road and only 23rd at home.
Those are facts that have the Spurs coach baffled.
"I don't know," Popovich told reporters after winning in Milwaukee. "I have no clue. You ask me? You act like I'm the coach and I'm supposed to know. Ask me about the .500 at home. Start with the bad. (It's the) same answer. I have no clue. I really don't."
The Spurs also had the league's No. 1 offense on the road and the No. 10 defense on the road, even if defensive-minded Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau looked at San Antonio's perfect road record and said, "I think defense travels well on the road."
Thibodeau deems the Spurs to be everything _ a 48-minute team, "connected" at both ends of the court _ he wants his team to be.
"You can see that when you watch them play," Thibodeau said before the game. "They're all willing to make the extra pass for each other. They're not wrapped up in stats or anything but winning. I love Pop has that line, 'You have to get over yourself first' and it's reflected in the way they play. You can see that."
The Spurs did that again on Tuesday, shrugging off two first-half, 10-point deficit and just forging ahead until they had pulled even and then built a 70-60 lead by late in the third quarter.
They did so with Leonard scoring 10 of his 31 points in that third quarter alone.
The Spurs led 76-63 with 10 { minutes remaining and the Wolves never could get back within a single-digit deficit again, not after Leonard scored 19 of his points in the second half.
The Wolves led 9-1 and 15-5 early, but the Spurs pushed back and took a brief 19-18 lead before quarter's end.
The Wolves scored the second quarter's first seven points to regain a 10-point lead and still were leading by eight points with 3:23 left in the first half before the Spurs answered back, pulling within 44-43 in the second quarter's final minute.
The Wolves led 46-43 at the half.
