San Antone: The Gait Toward Eight

Leonard's defense forced a tough shot at the buzzer, missed by McCollum. Portland and San Antonio had themselves a fight tonight, and it was Kawhi Leonard 1-on-1 with CJ McCollum for the finale, with the Portland shooting guard coming up short despite getting a shot off after a missed swipe attempt by Leonard. The Claw finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block. Behind was Dejounte Murray's 15 points and 4 assists. Avery Bradley had 11 points with 5 assists; Rudy Gay scored 10 points and 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block. Davis Bertans had 10 points, but went 0-4 from long range. Pau Gasol had 8 poins and 7 rebounds; Iman Shumpert scored 7 points, and Joakim Noah had 6 points and 8 rebounds with 1 block. In a relatively quiet showing, CJ McCollum scored 16 points with 6 rebounds on 6-14 shooting. Pat Connaughton was the second highest scorer with 16 points, making four perimeter baskets. Damian Lillard had only 13 points on 5-10 shooting. Evan Turner scored...

Leonard had some monster throw-down dunks in this game. A carbon copy of the last meeting between these two teams ensued, with both teams exchanging the lead and capitalizing on momentum-fueled runs. It was the Spurs that recovered and ultimately won tonight, 114-117, the same final score as last time with other similar tallies. Kawhi Leonard (25 points, 4 steals) got going after a slow start, throwing down a tomahawk bash and tickling the twine with a deep three-pointer that earned an instant replay to showcase his long-ball touch. Leonard and Joakim Noah (8 rebounds, 1 block) both managed to elude fouling out of the game, showing sound temperament in the clutch. Kawhi went 11-13 from the field. Avery Bradley (14 points, 2 steals) and Leonard were a pesky duo, forcing turnovers by Los Angeles as the Spurs intermittently seized control. "We shot too many damn threes," Coach Popovich said, not fully pleased with the floor unit's decision-making. However, late in th...