SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Brent Barry could briefly forget about his bloody noggin and appreciate another strong road performance by the San Antonio Spurs.

No matter that Barry left Arco Arena with 12 stitches and a very visible 2-inch gash above the left side of his forehead. He was happy not to have a concussion.

San Antonio and Sacramento didn't lack for drama in the teams' first meeting since the Spurs beat the Kings in the sixth game of their first-round playoff series in May.

"I came to Arco Arena and a hockey game broke out," Barry said.

Tim Duncan scored a season-high 35 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and the Spurs improved their franchise-best road start to 5-0 with a physical 108-99 victory over the ineffective Kings on Sunday night.

"He had a pretty good whack," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Barry. "Did you see it? That was long. Maybe he should get a shot."

In the only other game Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls 82-72.

Barry, checked for dizziness and concussion symptoms, wasn't the only one beat up afterward. Two other players had to leave for the locker room to get stitches.

Barry scored 11 points before going down with 22.2 seconds left in the second quarter following a hard collision with Ronnie Price. Both players were helped off the court and needed stitches ¡ª Barry's on the left side above his forehead and seven for Price on his chin. Both returned, with Barry sporting a giant bandage held on by a headband.

"I knew right away," said Barry, who once had six or seven stitches for a cut on his left eyebrow. "It was unfortunate we both got hurt on the play. It's basketball. It's part of the game."

Sacramento's Kenny Thomas headed to the locker room 5:25 before halftime to get two stitches on his lip after being hit in the mouth by Duncan. Kings coach Eric Musselman thought it should have been Duncan's third foul but nothing was called.

Ron Artest had 22 points and five rebounds, scoring seven of the Kings' points in a 12-3 spurt to start the second quarter. But the Kings couldn't stay with the Spurs and lost their second straight after a four-game winning streak. San Antonio won for the sixth time in eight games in Sacramento.

"They know how to win on the road, they know how to win at home," Musselman said. "They've been doing it for many years."

Kevin Martin added 20 points for his fifth straight 20-point performance and Sacramento ¡ª in a stretch with eight of 10 games at home including three of its next four ¡ª had a four-game winning streak in Arco Arena snapped. Sacramento had season lows of 10 assists and four steals.

The Kings had a tough time getting a hand in the face of the Spurs' shooters, who made five of their first 11 3-point tries and eight in all ¡ª three by Barry.

Tony Parker added 17 points and Manu Ginobili 16 for San Antonio. Duncan made 13 of 17 shots and went 9-for-11 from the free-throw line.

"I got it going early and was able to sustain it," Duncan said.

Popovich spoke to star defender Bruce Bowen on Friday after the forward was recently called and warned by Stu Jackson, the NBA's executive vice president of basketball operations, about giving jump shooters enough space to land ¡ª otherwise he could face a fine or suspension.

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