Spurs finish on 20-5 run behind Kawhi, Aldridge to beat Pelicans
Excellent as they’ve been against the league at large, the San Antonio Spurs have had some problems knocking off the New Orleans Pelicans in Louisiana over the past couple of seasons. They entered Thursday having lost three straight games at the Smoothie King Center, and for much of their nationally televised TNT tilt against Anthony Davis and company, the Spurs looked a half-step off-tempo, with even familiar actions and motions honed over decades seeming askew.
Case in point: this third-quarter attempted high pick-and-roll between eterna-teammates Tim Duncan and Tony Parker that turned into just about the least Spursy play you can imagine:
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Through 42 minutes, the Spurs had shot just 40.6 percent from the field as a team and had ceded advantages in points in the paint, second-chance points and fast-break points to the Pelicans, who had ridden the hot shooting of Eric Gordon, strong play from the point guard combo of Norris Cole and Jrue Holiday, and Davis’ gifts to an 81-74 lead with six minutes remaining. For a second, you wondered if maybe, having sewn up their 19th straight playoff berth on Wednesday before heading to New Orleans on the back-end of a back-to-back, San Antonio had taken its eye off the ball a bit, and would be willing to deal with a “schedule loss” before heading home to take on the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.
And then, the final six minutes happened.
From the midpoint of the fourth quarter, it was as if the Spurs remembered, “Oh, right: we’re the Spurs.” All of a sudden, the Pelicans’ water was all but shut off; the clean looks for Gordon and Holiday were gone, as were just about any looks at all for Davis, who got just one shot attempt in the last six minutes. When New Orleans did get inside, Duncan was there to commandeer the middle and turn them away, notching both of his blocks down the stretch on consecutive Pelican possessions in the final 2 1/2 minutes to keep Alvin Gentry’s club from stemming San Antonio’s surging tide.
While determinedly short-circuiting New Orleans’ offense, the Spurs also got their machine spun up, thanks in large part to stellar shot-making from All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, and a big finish for reserve guard Patty Mills, on whom Gregg Popovich leaned heavily on a night where Parker (whom Pop pulled just 1:11 into the first quarter after Cole blew by him for a layup) just didn’t have it.
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The discomfort and out-of-phase playmaking from earlier in the game vanished, as San Antonio made eight of its last 12 shots in a 20-5 game-closing run. The Spurs scored the final 12 points of the game, with Leonard setting up Mills for a 3-pointer before burying a pull-up bomb of his own with 35 ticks left to seal a 94-86 win that extended their winning streak to seven games.
Leonard finished with 30 points on 12-for-22 shooting, including a 6-for-10 mark from 3-point land, to go with 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in 39 minutes; this marks just the second 30-point outing of the season for Leonard, and his first since opening night, which seems kind of crazy considering just how impressive he’s been as an offensive force in his rise to All-Star-starter status and non-Steph-division MVP consideration. Aldridge added 26 points on 11-for-19 shooting with eight rebounds for San Antonio, who improved to 52-9 on the season to draw within three games of the Golden State Warriors for the top spot in the Western Conference (and who could get within 2 1/2 if the Oklahoma City Thunder could finish the job this time in Thursday’s rematch).
Granted, it’s not exceptionally remarkable to best a Pelicans club that continues to be hamstrung by injuries, sits at 23-37, has remained one of the league’s bigger disappointments even when healthy and just heard its head coach say they’re out of the playoff race after Wednesday’s loss to James Harden and the Houston Rockets. But shifting into 20-5 domination mode on what looked to be an off night is still pretty darn impressive, and served as a reminder that even when the Spurs don’t start the game looking like themselves or get out of the gate fast, they’ve still got one hell of a closing kick.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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