San Antone: The Gait Toward Eight

Gasol is still a reliable weapon for the defending champions. Similar to the last meeting, the San Antonio Spurs got themselves into a fight with the gutsy Denver Nuggets led by Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, but like last time, dominated the second half as the Nuggets went cold. It still took two powerful showings by Avery Bradley (31 points, 8 assists, 2 steals, 5-9 3PT) and Kawhi Leonard (30 points). Led by Pau Gasol (16 points), San Antonio's bench provided a spark of strength with Patty Mills splashing in five threes and dishing five assists as Iman Shumpert notched 12 points and Joakim Noah lorded the paint with 14 rebounds. The Spurs won 102-129 after a 38-21 third quarter stomping. Leonard's ferocious dunks has fueled the streak. Next, the Spurs blasted the Houston Rockets 101-127 to exact revenge on the last encounter between them. This time around, James Harden had an awful night and found himself in rare foul trouble, killing Houston's chances, especial

Another legitimate struggle for the Spurs ensued as the 76ers visited San Antonio, nearly leaving with a road victory, were it not for a remarkable clutch effort by Rudy Gay, Pau Gasol and Kawhi Leonard and....Patty Mills' cold-blooded dagger at the buzzer, fresh out of a timeout, to make his only 3PTer in the game after an off night. The second dagger of this season, Mills was subbed in for Dejounte Murray, tasked with guarding Ben Simmons on a strong night for the LSU prodigy as he notched 22 points and 16 assists, a new career high that earned him player of the game honors. In the final minute, he whipped a pass to big man Joel Embiid for the easy layup, giving the 76ers a three-point lead. Kawhi Leonard would drive to the basket, make the shot and the subsequent free-throw, the home crowd applauding the score-tying moment. Both Rudy Gay and Leonard had to fend off a final sixth foul for nearly the entire final period, with Gay forced to switch defensive tasks with Murray