Spurs crush Cavaliers, edge Pelicans, topple Warriors.

Kawhi Leonard leads the Spurs to the playoffs, as per usual.

The Cavaliers finally got into somewhat of a rhythm, but the visiting Spurs cruised past them, with Joakim Noah boasting 14 points and 10 rebounds on 6-6 shooting. Davis Bertans splashed in 24 points on four 3PTers, with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Skal Labissiere had another nice game with 21 points on 3-6 from long range. Leonard bowed out early after 17 points, making a trio of tres. Kyle O'Quinn gnarled 11 rebounds, and Iman Shumpert contributed 12 points. Dejounte Murray had 8 rebounds with 8 assists. The Cavaliers were crushed by a 33-9 second quarter by the Spurs, as the defending champions went up 66-35, ultimately winning 123-88 on the road.

With trade deadline hysteria over, Anthony Davis powered the Pelicans nearly over the Spurs on the road, playing well in the first half, with New Orleans going cold down the stretch in a close game. The Spurs defense tightened up, as did their perimeter proficiency. Patty Mills lit up the Pelicans in the final quarter, pushing the lead to 92-105. Kyle O'Quinn got two impressive blocks on AD, as did Pau Gasol. Leonard did his usual dominance with a steal then a mighty dunk, the Spurs winning 106-117.

The Claw had 32 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals on four 3PT shots. Patty Mills surged to a solid 26 points, making eight impressive 3PTers with five assists. Avery Bradley notched 21 points, Iman Shumpert gave 18 points and Pau Gasol had 7 points with 9 rebounds. Big man AD had 26 points, 16 monstrous rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks, showcasing why he was so sought after on trade deadline day. Jrue Holiday had just 8 points with 10 assists, going 3-12 and 1-7 from 3PT range. Julius Randle fouled out at the end of the third quarter, wounding the road victory chances.

The third meeting of the western conference titans got underway in strange fashion, with the Spurs going up 20-4 to stun the crowd at ORACLE Arena in the Bay Area, their Warriors stumbling out the gate. The Spurs disrupted plays, fouled hard, intercepted passes, caused chaos in the form of turnovers (10 by Steph Curry). Dejounte Murray was the spark plug of aggression for the Spurs, summoning 27 points at the rim with 9 assists on a 10-16 shooting night with 2 steals, tasked with guarding Klay Thompson as Avery Bradley (8 points) challenged Curry (20 points, 4-8 3PT, 9 assists, 10 turnovers).

Meanwhile, Kawhi Leonard had 33 points with 5 insanely clutch steals, diving on the floor and hustling past the scramble for fast break opportunities. Leonard would hit clutch 3PTers too as the Warriors attempted to come back and win. Golden State went down by nearly twenty points, before storming back with their hot shooting weapons in the form of Andre Iguodala (22 points, 5 3PTers). Kevin Durant had an off night with just 9 points, going cold on the floor. Klay Thompson netted 18 points, but shot just 2-7 from long range, with 6 assists. Demarcus Cousins was a resilient force down low with 18 points and 17 rebounds on 6-10 shooting, but going 0-2 from long range. Cousins late game-tying attempt was swatted away by Joakim Noah.

Steph's final heave (down by four) careened off the shot clock.

In what culminated as the 36th consecutive victory for the western kings, the Spurs took this win by controlling tempo all game long, forcing Golden State into 17 turnovers as a team, despite both teams shooting well above 50%. Draymond Green had 12 points with 5 assists, but went 2-6 from deep. Shaun Livingston had 11 points off the bench. Meanwhile, Skal Labissiere proved to be a versatile weapon tonight, hitting a clutch hook shot off glass late to pad the lead (Golden State clawed within three points once, four points too many times) with 14 points on 5-10. Iman Shumpert matched Durant's 3PTer to quell the comeback as time continued to tick away. Rudy Gay had 7 rebounds, but struggled to score from long range, as did Patty Mills...except for the dagger he buried off a pass by Labissiere to put the Spurs up, 114-106. Curry would pull off some heroics, cutting the lead to 114-111, with Mills spoiling the rally at the free throw line (Golden State missed five free throws, Spurs only three) 115-111 with then just 20 seconds left on the clock. Labissiere made a tough layup, with Murray also coming through strongly at the free throw line, never stopping his aggressive drives. The Spurs led 85-78 going into the final quarter.

Leonard would down the Warriors, 117-113 at the free throw line after Cousins made a layup. He and Bradley combined for one nasty double team, causing steals and dunks all game long, the Spurs up 71-55 heading into the third quarter. Murray had 16 in the first half, and Leonard had 18. With one more meeting left this season, the Spurs now look ahead to the OKC Thunder and further on to the playoffs, where the Warriors will be waiting, along with a rogue's gallery of challengers.