SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio center Pau Gasol credited a one-on-one session Monday with franchise stalwart Tim Duncan as the catalyst for one of his better statistical outings (17 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists) of the season Wednesday in the Spurs’ 108-101 victory over the Boston Celtics.

“It made all the difference,” Gasol said with a laugh. “It’s all I’m going to do from now on.”

Jokes aside, as much as Gasol’s game blossomed, so did the rest of the team’s, as the Spurs racked up 30-plus assists (33) for the second consecutive game since they were called out by coach Gregg Popovich on the heels of a 95-91 loss at Chicago. On Monday, San Antonio conducted its first practice since Nov. 7, and over the course of some much-needed rest time and on-court instruction, the club appears to have returned to its brand of ball-movement-oriented basketball.

The players remain cautiously optimistic that is the case.

“Fresh legs. Four days off was great,” point guard Tony Parker said. “We had a lot of energy, and the ball was moving. Everybody was sharing, and when we play like that, we will be hard to beat. Having 33 assists is very good.”

Tony Parker's 16 points Wednesday made him one of six Spurs in double figures, and his seven assists put him among six Spurs with at least three. AP Photo/Darren Abate

The Spurs knocked down 44 baskets, with 33 assists, led by Parker, who finished with seven assists and 16 points. Six Spurs ended the night scoring in double figures: Parker, Gasol, Kawhi Leonard (who ran off a game-high 26 points), Manu Ginobili (12 points), Dewayne Dedmon (10) and Jonathon Simmons (10). The Spurs now own a record of 12-0 this season when they finish with five or more scorers in double figures.

Spurs bigs David Lee, Gasol and Davis Bertans dished a combined 13 assists. Six Spurs (Leonard, Lee, Gasol, Parker, Ginobili and Bertans) contributed at least three assists, with three of them racking up six or more.

The Spurs played without power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, whom Popovich decided to rest because the veteran, according to the coach, is “banged up.”

Danny Green attributed San Antonio’s success to an emphasis on “picking up the pace a little bit more.”

“Not letting the ball stick,” he added. “Catching and moving, catching and going, catching and playing for a teammate. We’ve been doing better with it, but I’m not sure we’re where we want to be.”

Popovich and Ginobili agreed, with the former saying “not yet” when asked whether San Antonio has achieved some level of consistency after strong showings in back-to-back outings.

San Antonio scored a combined 123 points in the first halves of its past two contests, compared to a combined 75 first-half points in the two outings before that, including Thursday’s loss at Chicago.

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“When you see some consistency, it’s got to happen four, five, six games in a row,” Popovich said. “But this is a really good win for us because Boston, I think they execute better than most everybody in the league: great ball movement, great people movement. Brad [Stevens] does a great job with those guys, and they really react well to it, so they’re hard to guard. The things they do are hard. I thought this was one of our better efforts at the defensive end.”

The Spurs became the second team in the NBA to reach 20 victories, and their 20-5 mark equals the second-best record in franchise history through 25 games.

“I think we played pretty well today,” Ginobili said. “We had some distractions. We got great leads three times, and they got back in the game. But overall, we really feel better about the way we played. Everybody got involved. Everybody felt good about the game. So yeah, I think we did good. We are trying to focus on [ball movement], trying to be more aware of where our teammates are and try to get everybody involved. For these two games, it worked. I think it’s too early to say that we turned the corner. But it’s a good sign.”

Parker and Green stressed the need for San Antonio to maintain the momentum from a pair of home victories over the Nets and Celtics as the team prepares to hit the road for a Thursday matchup at Phoenix.

“I think we have spurts of it when we see it, especially with that second group,” Green said. “Our first group does it in phases. We have to get both groups to do it for a full 48. It comes and goes. You might see it throughout the game, maybe 60 percent of the time, or two or three games out of seven. We want to do it all seven.”

But is that possible?

The Spurs are 18-2 when they distribute 20 or more assists this season, and they’ve reeled off a combined 71 dimes in the past two games: 38 on Saturday against Brooklyn and 33 in the win over the Celtics.

“Just have to maintain it,” Parker said. “That’s the whole goal: keep improving, and push ourselves to play like that, at a high standard offensively and defensively, same thing, and try to improve.”