TONY PARKER showed why he is so valuable to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night.

    Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 20 points in their 106-100 victory over Houston, but Parker’s court presence proved to be the biggest difference between this victory and Wednesday’s night’s 101-99 home loss to the Rockets without him.

    “He’s a great point guard, very smart, knows where guys’ spots are on the floor, and he’s been here before,” Leonard said. “He knows what (Gregg Popovich) expects, and if one of us gets out of line or if we’re doing well, he tells us. He just makes us better.”

    Parker missed three games with knee soreness last week, and the Spurs lost consecutive home games for the first time since December 2014. On Saturday night, he scored a season-high 16 points and played 27 minutes, his second-highest total of the season.

    “He gets us organized,” Popovich said. “He hasn’t been with us so much this season. He’s just a stability factor, and that was a big help.”

    Parker was not made available to reporters.

    The Spurs improved to 5-0 on the road, where they have outscored opponents by an average of 12.8 points.

    James Harden had a triple-double for a second straight game against the Spurs, finishing with 25 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, but also added seven costly turnovers.

    A deep 3-pointer by Eric Gordon cut the lead to four with 2 minutes remaining, but Houston struggled to make stops down the stretch.

    “Just messed up coverages,” Harden said. “They’re a really good team. They make you mess up.”

    Gordon scored 27 points off the bench, going 7 of 12 on 3-pointers. Houston attempted 47 3s in the game, making 15 (31.9 percent).

    LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points, Pau Gasol scored 15 and Manu Ginobili added 12 off the bench for the Spurs.

    (SD-Agencies)