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 Guard Tony Parker poured in a season-high 25 points, and forward
Kawhi Leonard added 20 points as the Spurs outshot Denver Nuggets
and collected their sixth consecutive victory.
Denver had as many rebounds (50) as the Spurs, had seven more
offensive boards (17) than normally glass-hungry San Antonio (10)
and had more points in the paint (52-42), more second-chance points
(17-6) and more fast-break points (16-12) than the Spurs.
But San Antonio outshot the Nuggets 48.8 percent to 38.8 percent and
had five players in double-figure scoring for the fourth straight
game.
"I go to sleep every night hoping we will play like the Spurs,"
Denver coach Michael Malone said. "They're in the top five in so
many categories and they just don't make mistakes or beat
themselves. I look at the stat sheet and it shows we could have won
the game if we would have shot better."
The Nuggets stayed within shouting distance early in the fourth
quarter as forward Kenneth Faried hit for two baskets and a free
throw and guard Jameer Nelson added a driving jumper. However,
Leonard went to the rim for a layup off a feed by forward David West
and then hit a long 3-pointer to put the game out of reach.
The Spurs (9-2) moved to 5-0 at home this season.
San Antonio got 17 points from reserve guard Patty Mills. Forward
Tim Duncan scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and forward
LaMarcus Aldridge added 11 points and 12 rebounds.
"My teammates did a great job of setting picks for me and it was
easy to choose when to shoot and when to pass," Parker said. "We
have a lot of new guys and they try to do their best and fit. We
know that if we take care of the ball we have a good chance to win
the game."
Denver (6-6) was led by reserve center Nikola Jokic's 23 points and
12 rebounds. The Nuggets got 15 points apiece from Faried and guard
Gary Harris, while their leading scorer, forward Danilo Gallinari,
hit for just nine points.
San Antonio led 31-24 at the end of the first quarter behind eight
points from Mills and 50 percent shooting from the floor. The
Nuggets got nine points in the period by Harris and got seven points
off eight offensive rebounds, a rarity against San Antonio's
dominant and long frontcourt players.
The Spurs posted a season-high in first-half scoring (65 points),
field-goal percentage (58.5 percent) and 3-point field-goal
percentage (75 percent) but led by just seven points at halftime as
Denver scored 34 points in the paint.
"Our defense has to travel with us every game and it didn't in the
second quarter last night (in a 115-98 win at New Orleans) and it
didn't in the whole first half tonight," Malone said.
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Nine players, led by Jokic's 12 points, scored for the Nuggets
before halftime, and 10 players -- paced by Parker's 15 points (11
in the second quarter) -- lit the scoreboard for the Spurs.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said the Nuggets hurt the Spurs on
the glass, especially in the second half, when Denver scored 15
points via offensive rebounds. "In the second half (Denver) got
two," he said. "The guys did a much better job."
Parker kept up his scoring binge in the early third quarter, hitting
three baskets in a two-minute stretch to help give the Spurs an
81-66 lead, their biggest of the game. By quarter's end, San Antonio
already had four of its starters with 10 points or more.
Gallinari managed just five points through the first three quarters,
but the attention he drew from the Spurs' big men inside allowed
Faried and Jokic some room to work and score.
"My performance really doesn't matter because we lost," Jokic said.
"We had a really bad game -- they scored 109 points and that's too
much. They had too many open shots. We must do better on defense."
NOTES: After scoring 17 points (14 in the fourth quarter) in the
Spurs' 96-80 win against Portland on Monday, guard Mano Ginobili
will miss San Antonio's next two games with bilateral hip tightness.
He will be re-evaluated prior to Saturday's game vs. Memphis. ...
The Spurs were 4-0 against Denver in 2014-15. ... San Antonio held
the Nuggets to an NBA record-low three points in the first quarter
on Nov. 27, 2002. ... Denver C Joffrey Lauvergne and San Antonio G
Tony Parker and F Boris Diaw are teammates on the French national
team. ... Nuggets F Danilo Gallinari scored a season-high 32 points
Tuesday in Denver's 115-98 win at New Orleans. Gallinari has had six
20-plus point games this season and has scored in double figures in
nine of the Nuggets' 11 outings. ... Denver shot a season-best 52.9
percent in the win against New Orleans and is 4-0 when shooting 50
percent or better this year.
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