SAN ANTONIO – Saturday night was old school night at the AT&T Center.
While the court was full of young and upcoming players for both the Nuggets and Spurs, it was a couple of old standbys that stole the show. And that show deserved a curtain call, as far as Spurs fans were concerned.
Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker led a potent San Antonio offense that was too much for the Nuggets to handle in a 121-97 victory. The duo scored 36 points combined and shot a combined 13-of-14 as the Spurs ran away in the second half.
For Ginobili, it was a season high. He scored 18 of those points in a hot-like-fire first half that saw him make his first five shots – four from 3-point range. He scored all 18 of his points in just 10 minutes. For Parker, it was nearly a 20-point night, which is rare for him this season. He settled in at 18 as well.
The Spurs took an all-too familiar path to victory.
“It’s the same story every time we play this team,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
– It starts with converting turnovers at a dizzying rate. San Antonio turned 22 Nuggets turnovers into 32 points. A big chunk of that damage was done in the third quarter, when seven turnovers were cashed in for nine points.
– The second half was a problem. In the previous two matchups this season, the Nuggets were outscored by a combined 39 points in the second half. On Saturday, the Spurs got right down to business in the third, making eight of their first nine shots and outscoring the Nuggets 21-7 out of the gate, before settling in to a 35-22 advantage for the quarter. The Nuggets were outscored by 18 points in the second half overall.
“I thought our starting group to start that third was awful,” Malone said. “A 21-7 run, six turnovers within that run for eight points, and we just caved in. We crumbled.”
– Kawhi Leonard put his imprint on matters. The Spurs young superstar didn’t get off to a great start -– scoring just seven points on 1-of-5 shooting in the first half. But he scored 12 points in the third quarter, making 5-of-8 shots. About the only thing he did wrong was go 2-of-4 from the free-throw line. Leonard finished with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists.
BOXSCORE: Spurs 121, Nuggets 97
The Nuggets turned to the second unit to try and claw back into things after the Spurs stretched the lead to 23 on a weary starting five that played big minutes Friday night. By the middle of the fourth, the Nuggets had a group of youngsters on the court that included Malik Beasley and Johnny O’Bryant.
The Nuggets were led by Jamal Murray’s 20 points. Nikola Jokic (11) and Wilson Chandler (10) were the only starters to get into double figures. Chandler, however, didn’t score after the first quarter. Neither did Jameer Nelson, who scored six of the Nuggets’ first 10 points and finished with eight.
“(Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) does a great job of getting those guys to do exactly what they need to so in their game plan,” Nelson said. “They execute it well. It’s second nature to them. They wear you down, they don’t make too many mistakes and they capitalize off your mistakes.”
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