SAN ANTONIO -- With two starters still on the shelf over the first nine games of the season, the San Antonio Spurs have had to rely on clutch play from its reserves a lot but Friday's 108-101 win over the Charlotte Hornets took that dependence to the extreme.

Bryn Forbes scored 22 points to lead four Spurs' bench players in double figures as San Antonio snapped a four-game losing streak and rebounded from a 20-point home loss to Golden State on the second night of a back-to-back.

Forbes finished five points shy of a career high by making 8 of 11 shots in 22 minutes.

"It felt good to play some more minutes and make some shots," Forbes said. "I just try to contribute any way I can and do what they tell me to do and try to affect the game in some way. That's all I was thinking -- that and to try to keep my confidence high."

Fellow reserve Rudy Gay added 20 points for the Spurs (5-4), who earned a 64-16 advantage over Charlotte in bench scoring.

Patty Mills added 17 points, 12 of them in the fourth quarter, LaMarcus Aldridge had 14 points and Dejounte Murray and Manu Ginobili contributed 10 points apiece for San Antonio, which is still without star forward Kawhi Leonard and veteran point guard Tony Parker -- and will be for the foreseeable future.

The Spurs led 80-71 entering the fourth quarter and 86-73 with 10:16 to go before Charlotte fought back to get to within 90-86 with 5:25 remaining.

Then San Antonio went to its long-distance game, as Forbes hit a three and Mills added three straight 3-pointers to move the advantage to 103-92 at the 2:04 mark and the Spurs were able to carry their lead to the finish.

"I thought we were physical and pretty tenacious," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "They communicated well."

Charlotte's Jeremy Lamb led all scorers with career-high 27 points while Dwight Howard added 20 points and 12 rebounds, rookie Dwayne Bacon poured in 18 points, and Kemba Walker hit for 13 for the Hornets (5-4), who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

"I got some shots to go down and my teammates put me in some great spots but it doesn't feel good when you lose," Lamb said. "We will watch some film and learn from this. We made some crucial turnovers late in the third quarter when the Spurs were able to get out and make some easy layups. Then the 3-pointers at the end were backbreakers. Mills hit some tough, contested shots."

San Antonio slogged its way to a 49-45 advantage at halftime behind 12 points from Aldridge and a 28-9 scoring advantage in the half from its reserve players. Lamb and Walker led the Hornets with 10 points apiece in a half with no lead bigger than San Antonio's seven points, five lead changes and three ties.

Charlotte led 66-61 with after two Bacon free throws with 4:31 to play in the third quarter before the Spurs uncorked a 14-0 run behind three straight baskets from Gay. San Antonio ended scored 19 of the quarter's final 24 points.

"We had, in one stretch, three turnovers that led directly to baskets out of five possessions," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said of the Spurs' third-quarter surge. "Our guys did a lot of good things, but we just are not going to win with those plays, especially on the road against a team like that."

NOTES: San Antonio reserve G Manu Ginobili played in his 1,000th career game on Friday. He is the third to play 1,000 games with the Spurs, along with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. Ginobili is the first player from South America to play in 1,000 NBA games and the second second-round pick to play 1,000 NBA games with one team. ... Charlotte C Dwight Howard passed Charles Oakley for 21st place on the NBA's all-time career rebounding list (12,206). ... Hornets G Michael Carter-Williams was active for the for first time this year, while G Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is not with the team in San Antonio due to personal reasons (excused absence). ... The Spurs return to the court Sunday when they host Phoenix; Charlotte heads to Minnesota on Sunday for the second of a four-game road trip.