| Advertisement |
DENVER -- San Antonio forward Tim Duncan and guard Manu Ginobili stayed home and rested Friday night. For forward Kawhi Leonard, point guard Tony Parker and a smothering Spurs defense, it was business as usual. Leonard scored 25 points and Parker added 13 as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Denver Nuggets 91-80 to win their fourth game in a row.
Advertisement
Leonard became the first player since Hakeem Olajuwon on Dec. 12, 1992, to record 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five blocked shots and four steals in a single NBA game. While Spurs coach Gregg Popovich described Leonard's play as "great" on Friday night, he shrugged his shoulders at his team's ability to compensate for missing stars.
"That's their job," Popovich said. "They get paid a lot of money."
Denver led by as many as 11 in a first half during which Parker said the Spurs lacked energy. But Leonard and Parker combined to score all 29 San Antonio points from the middle of the second quarter to the middle of the third.
The Spurs scored the final 12 points of the first half and the first four of the third quarter to turn an eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead.
The Spurs opened the fourth quarter with three straight 3-pointers before Denver scored, extending their advantage to 20. The Nuggets never threatened again.
"You have to play every night as hard as you can and not worry about the ball going in," Leonard said. "On nights like this when (it is), it's nothing new."
Denver lost its fifth game in a row and all four games on a homestand that concluded Friday. The Nuggets begin a five-game trip on Saturday night in Dallas. It was the 10th time this season the Spurs have held an opponent below 90 points. It was also Denver's eighth straight defeat to the Spurs.
"Defensively, that's where we won the game tonight," Parker said. "We created a lot of opportunities on the other end, and we held them to 80 points. That's pretty good. You're going to win a lot of games if you can do that."
Forward Danilo Gallinari led Denver with 16 points but was only 5 of 15 from the field. Rookie guard Emmanuel Mudiay went 3 of 14 from the field.
"We have to finish off quarters outright," Mudiay said.
"We can't drop our head when they go on a run. We have to pick our heads up and go onto the next play so we can make a run ourselves."
Denver shot 39.5 percent from the field for the game, including 28 percent in the third quarter. The Nuggets also committed 18 turnovers.
"We look great in stretches, and we look bad in stretches," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "Until we play 48 minutes, we will continue to stack up losses."
NOTES: Duncan had started all 15 games this season. Popovich said his decisions to rest his veterans is usually a "seat-of-the-pants" choice. He had little trouble picking Friday as a good night for a break. "(Duncan) and Manu knew without me even saying anything that tonight that they'd be out," Popovich said. "It wouldn't matter who we're playing." Friday was the first of a back-to-back for San Antonio, and its second of three games in four nights. ... Rookie Boban Marjanovic made his first start in Duncan's place. The 7-foot-3, undrafted Serbian entered averaging 2.1 points and 3.1 minutes per game. ... Nuggets starting PF Kenneth Faried missed his third straight game with a left ankle sprain. Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Faried went through part of shootaround, but is not healthy enough to return. Darrell Arthur started in his place. ... C Joffrey Lauvergne (lower back strain) was available to play Friday after missing Denver's past 11 games. He started the first three games, but hasn't played since Nov. 1. "Not having our starting center in the lineup has definitely affect us," Malone said. ... Nuggets C Jusuf Nurkic (left patellar tendon repair) has yet to play this season and his return does not appear imminent. Malone estimated Nurkic is still four weeks out. Nurkic, an NBA all-rookie second-team selection in 2014-15, has yet to go through a full-contact practice this season. He had surgery on the tendon in May.
