The San Antonio Spurs went on two long runs in the first half to take control early before holding off the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 109-95 on Saturday night.

LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan paced the way for San Antonio, which won for the fourth straight time. Aldridge scored 22 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out six assists. DeRozan recorded 26 points.

Patty Mills and Marco Belinelli added 15 and 14 points, respectively, off the bench for the Spurs.

Jrue Holiday led the Pelicans with a season-high 29 points and eight assists. Nikola Mirotic had a 22-point, 16-rebound double-double, and Anthony Davis scored 17 points on 5-of-13 shooting for New Orleans, which lost its fifth straight after a 4-0 start.

The Spurs watched a 20-point lead late in the third quarter nearly evaporate. Holiday led an 8-0 New Orleans run that cut the deficit to 91-78 with eight minutes remaining.

DeRozan connected on the next two Spurs' possessions to give San Antonio some breathing room. But Davis scored four of the next six New Orleans points, and the Pelicans trailed 95-85.

Holiday made it 102-94 with a step-back jumper with 3:11 remaining, but the Pelicans would get no closer.

The Pelicans were playing for the fifth time in eight days. Yet they came out with energy and grabbed an early 17-10 lead on a pair of free throws from Holiday.

San Antonio closed the first quarter with a 14-0 run to take a 24-17 lead entering the second period.

With the Pelicans trying to climb back into the game, San Antonio went on another spurt, this time a 12-0 run to open up a 48-29 lead.

New Orleans turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, while the Spurs turned it over just once.

Free-throw shooting in the first half also doomed New Orleans as the Pelicans made only 6 of 14 attempts.

--Field Level Media