SAN ANTONIO (NBA) - As successful as Tony Parker has been in his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs, something had eluded him until Monday night.

A three-time NBA champion and MVP of his team’s 2007 Finals triumph over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the 30-year-old French basketball icon had never racked up a triple-double.

Now, after San Antonio's 134-126 overtime triumph at the Houston Rockets, Parker can say he has joined the company of other greats.

He finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.

On a night when Jeremy Lin reminded everyone that he is one of the great young players by pouring in a career-high 38 points for the Rockets, Parker shone brightest.

“If we lose,” he said, “nobody would have cared. They would just be talking about ‘Linsanity.’

“Now that we won the game, it makes it even better because at the end of the day, people only care about wins.”

When it comes to wins, the Spurs have been better than every other team in the league this season.

They now have 18.

Maybe Parker would have had more triple-doubles in his career had he not had Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili as teammates.

They have been getting their share of points, rebounds and assists over the years.

Argentina international Ginobili underlined his importance to the team as well against the Rockets by scoring 14 of his 27 points in overtime.

The player that everyone was talking about after, however, including the tough-to-please Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, was Parker.

"All night long, he kept us in the game," Popovich said.

"With his play on both ends of the floor, he was magnificent."

FIBA