"For Tony Parker, the nightly marching orders from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich are as simple as they are impossible.

"He wants me to be perfect," Parker said.

Popovich does not dispute this depiction of what he demands from his 29-year-old point guard.

"He's constantly in the area of getting hounded by me," Popovich said. "He scores and I want assists. He assists, I tell him, 'You gotta score.'"

Monday in New Orleans, in a 104-102 victory the listing Spurs absolutely had to have, Parker came as close to perfection as he ever could.

Using a prolific mixture of passing and scoring, Parker turned in a game for the annals, registering 20 points and a career-best 17 assists, becoming the second Spurs player to reach those totals in the same game."