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With the Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA's most ineffectual team
in town Monday night, the Spurs coach didn't hold any of the
team's Big Three out of the game; he just deployed them for
fewer minutes than they normally play.
That hardly mattered. With neither Duncan, Ginobili nor Parker
logging more than 18 minutes, the Spurs defeated Philadelphia
100-75 for their fourth victory in the last five games.
The 76ers, meanwhile, fell to 0-10.
Forward Matt Bonner, starting for the Spurs (6-4) because Tiago
Splitter is injured, led the team with 18 points in 20 minutes.
Bonner converted 4 of 6 3-point shots. The 18 points were the
most he has scored since contributing 20 against Utah in 2012.
Bonner, 34, has gone through stretches during his nine seasons
with the Spurs when he barely plays. But Splitter has missed all
but one game this season, and Bonner has been called on to help
fill the void.
"In my old age, it's better to stay in shape by playing than
having to run on the treadmill the next day," Bonner said.
Bonner said his limited role induced him to become creative.
"I invented my own conditioning drill called the grinder," said
Bonner, adding that he could not explain what that entails.
"You just have to see it," Bonner said. "It's impossible to put
into words."
Cory Joseph, Parker's backup at point guard, produced 14 points.
Reserve forward Aron Baynes scored 12.
"Our bench played a lot of minutes -- good experience for them,"
Parker said.
Forward Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs' young star, played 20 minutes
and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Guard Michael Carter-Williams, last season's NBA Rookie of the
Year, led the Sixers with 16 points, three more than forward Luc
Mbah a Moute.
Philadelphia is so young that its entire active roster has less
combined experience than Duncan, who is in his 17th season.
The Sixers are woeful at both ends of the court, but their
issues are particularly acute on offense, where they began the
night ranked last in the NBA in shooting accuracy and 29th --
one spot from the bottom -- in scoring.
The game on Monday completed the 76ers' tour of Texas for the
season. Before moving on to San Antonio, they lost at Dallas on
Thursday and Houston on Friday, the two defeats handed to them
in completely different ways. Both, however, were painful.
Philadelphia lost by 123-70 at Dallas. The Mavericks scored more
points in the first half -- 73 -- than the Sixers managed all
night. Philadelphia shot a season-low 29.9 percent and committed
a season-high 28 turnovers in that one.
The Sixers lost by one point at Houston when Rockets guard James
Harden made a driving shot with nine seconds left. Philadelphia
began the fourth quarter with a five-point lead.
Guard Tony Wroten said the blowout defeat at Dallas was more
frustrating than the last-minute heartbreaker at Houston.
"Dallas for sure," Wroten said. "That wasn't us playing. We just
got embarrassed. We gave up. We showed more of ourselves in the
Houston game. We were right there."
The Spurs seemed poised for an early dismissal of the 76ers when
they took a 19-point lead with fewer than four minutes remaining
in the first half.
But Philadelphia whittled the deficit, cutting it to nine with a
3-point basket by Mbah a Moute on its first possession of the
second half.
But the Spurs pulled away again, Bonner leading the way with 13
points in the second half.
Bonner said he has to maintain a shooter's mentality regardless
of his circumstances.
"I actually got yelled at a couple of times by Pop earlier in
the season when I was having an off game and had a look he
thought I should have shot and didn't," Bonner said. "He got
mad."
NOTES: San Antonio Spurs C Tiago Splitter missed the game Monday
with a strained right calf that has prevented him from playing
in all but one game this season. ... Spurs G Marco Belinelli
missed his seventh straight game with a strained right groin.
Coach Gregg Popovich said Belinelli would likely travel with the
team for games at Cleveland and Minnesota this week, but not
Splitter. Even so, Belinelli's status for those games is
uncertain. ... The 76ers have a new player. They signed 6-9 F
Robert Covington from Grand Rapids of the NBA Development League
last weekend. Covington was the D-League rookie of the year last
season. He played in seven games for the Houston Rockets.
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