San Antone: The Gait Toward Eight

A back-and-forth slug fest, the Spurs took on the rival Grizzlies in what wound up being a one-possession war of attrition. Kawhi Leonard smashed a dunk past the Grizzlies to start the 2nd Quarter, but was unable to take over the game. San Antone held the lead by a thread, basket for basket until the fourth quarter. Memphis took the lead due to Marc Gasol's strong play (19 points, 13 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal). Iman Shumpert (20 points, 2 steals) nearly hit a dagger with 1:40 left in regulation, but his 3PT bomb was matched by Garrett Temple (6/10 3PT, 18 points) as the war trickled onward. Marc Gasol would make a lay-in to give Memphis the lead, mounting pressure on the weary Spurs squadron led by Coach Popovich (who looked on intensely from the sidelines, confident in his guys). Iman Shumpert made a difficult layup to reclaim a 97-96 advantage, only for Gasol to hit again. Stepping up big time for the Spurs, Dejounte Murray (18 points, 5 assists) capitalized on a play draw

In the past... No longer the face-off it used to be, every Spurs fan in attendance witnessed the ugly transitional state of the woeful LeBron-less Cavaliers. Rookie Collin Sexton never got comfortable on the court tonight, with many a near shot clock violation evidence of poor ball movement lacking in team identity. Avery Bradley erupted for 21 points in the first quarter, going 9/9, all but giving Kawhi Leonard the cue to sit this game out. That, and the Spurs were now up 33-17. San Antone nearly had a seventy-point half (65-38), with Bradley notching 30 by that point of his total 38 points, a career high with 3 steals also. The Spurs started this game on a 15-5 run. At the break, San Antonio was shooting 73%. Meanwhile, Rodney Hood went 5-14 and 2-7 from 3PT range for an ugly 17 points. Jordan Clarkson also notched 17 points on 5-13 shooting and a goose egg from deep. Tristan Thompson was ghostly with just 4 rebounds, and Sexton going 2-7. The Spurs shot 40% from long range,

Mills' desperate pull-up jumper broke hearts in Toronto tonight. It wasn't a good look, but every eye watched the ball go through the net in Toronto tonight after the exciting buzzer sounded. The culprit? Patty Mills, as Kyle Lowry sat down on the court in disbelief, as if punished for his solid defensive effort, the home crowd deflated. A finals rematch underway, the Spurs took a decent lead early, but the Raptors would seize control after a 39-31 third quarter. DeMarr DeRozan led the Raptors with 33 points and 7 assists, including a crowd-roaring dunk over Kawhi Leonard (21 points, 8-21/1-8 3PT) that gave the Raptors a one-point lead. Leonard would return the gesture with an and-1 layup past former teammate Danny Green (17 points/7 rebounds/3 steals). Clutch as ever, Leonard nailed the free throw to put the Spurs back up by two. Kawhi would suffer his final sixth foul as he reached in next on DeRozan with the seconds counting down. Unintentionally, this would set up Aus

Tyreke Evans nearly pulled off an upset for the Pacers, but not quite as the Spurs held off Indiana in the last minutes of a contentious final quarter, especially after the Pacers won the first meeting in blowout fashion. Kawhi Leonard wasn't quite his normal self, but hit some nice shots in the clutch and was solid from the free throw line to force the Pacers into a 3PT attempt. Previously, it was Iman Shumpert's windmill jam in transition that had given the Spurs a 5-PT lead. Dejounte Murray was solid for the Pacers, driving to the basket without fear against Myles Turner, and Rudy Gay splashed in a huge 3PTer as the final minute got underway.

Kawhi-eting the Brooklyn crowd. A contentious first half aside, Kawhi Leonard dominated the third quarter with his Spurs and finished with 47 points (18-26 FG%, with 4 steals), outsmarting double teams and crushing a jam past Brooklyn's big man, Jarrett Allen. The Claw had 29 points in the first half, and Rudy Gay (22 points, 9-15 FG%, 4 steals) also had a nice showing. The Nets shot well at home, but had a horrendous third quarter effort, roasted 35-10 by the visiting Spurs. The Spurs won this game 123-95, a sudden blowout situation as San Antonio capped 100 points to mark the end of the third quarter. Some fun moments were had, sure, with D'Angelo Russell dropping a bomb from down range to end the first (29-28, SA). It was Iman Shumpert's 3PT dagger to cap the half 65-56, with both teams shooting 65% at the break. Brooklyn would unfortunately go ice cold in the third, silencing the previously stoked crowd. Spencer Dinwiddie went 2-7, as D'Lo found himself ho