Gone, even before Thursday's tip, was Popovich's accusatory tone that followed the Spurs' 89-77 loss to the Pistons at the AT&T Center on Tuesday night, when he questioned both their intelligence and their manhood.

Instead, the coach was philosophical, preaching patience with a team that is still trying to rediscover its identity as two All-Star guards, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, attempt to regain their rhythm on a nightly basis.

"We've got to get those guys back, whole and healthy, and obviously they're still trying to find their rhythm," Popovich said. "That's probably got as much to do with a lot of it as anything. They're trying to get back in the fold and them trying to get their games together, we have to sort of re-tool things again for everyone to get used to different combinations. That's what we're going through right now, more than anything.

"Roger (Mason Jr.) has got a new role and Bruce (Bowen) has a new role, coming off the bench. They're trying to find their way, and that's going to take a little time, and we've got to be patient with it."

Patience, at least on Thursday, was its own reward, and brought with it a victory that atoned for all of the ugliness of Tuesday's night's home loss. Instead of their second three-game losing streak of the season, the Spurs boarded their flight back to Texas with a 10-8 record and a sense they are re-discovering the combination that has worked for them during the entire Tim Duncan era: Defense, and unselfish offense.

Thursday's game was the first of the season in which the Spurs' Big Three were large in the scorebook. Duncan had 21 points, Parker 22 and Ginobili 21.

Ginobili, in his sixth game back from the injured list, played 30 minutes. Parker, who missed nine games with a badly sprained left ankle, logged 36 minutes. Duncan put in 39 minutes and added 12 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks to his point total.

Popovich told his players Denver had too much firepower to try to match baskets with the Nuggets.

"This (Denver) team can score a million points," Popovich said, "so reducing (Denver's) offensive output is our first priority. If we don't do that, it doesn't matter what we do, because we're not capable of putting up the numbers they put up."

In fact, though, the Spurs had their most productive first half of the season, scoring 61, matching their first half of Nov. 21, against the Utah Jazz. They made 55.8 percent of their shots, with Parker making 6 of 10.

"It's about time," Parker told TNT TV reporter Cheryl Miller during the halftime break.

The Spurs also held a team that scored 132 points in a 39-point victory over Toronto two days prior to just 41 in the half. Point guard Chauncey Billups, who had directed the Nuggets to 12 victories in the 15 games he had played with them since the Nov. 3 trade that sent Allen Iverson to Detroit, missed 6 of 7 shots, scoring only three in the first two periods.

The Spurs expanded their lead to 23 points in the third period, a Duncan dunk off a quick baseline spin move pushing their lead to 78-55. But Denver made a comeback late in the third period and into the first few minutes of the fourth. A 3-point basket by Billups trimmed the Spurs' lead to 14, at 88-74.

The Spurs countered with a nine-point run, four from Duncan, two from George Hill and three from Mason, and pushed their lead back to 23.