Spurs 91, Nuggets 80

Leonard, who did most of his damage with 15 points in the first half, led the Spurs in scoring for the sixth straight game. They fought back but right about the time they’d closed the gap the Spurs went on another run and Denver’s offense devolved into turnovers and ineffective chucking. They are entrenched atop the NBA Western Conference’s Southwest Division.

Express-News Spurs reporters Jabari Young and Tom Orsborn discuss the game, and hear from Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer and Green on the Spurs defense after 17 games this season.

“We usually build as a team defensively, but this year we’ve started out very aggressively”, Spurs reserve guard Manu Ginobili said. “We believe we’re a better shooting team from outside than past year”. Their ball movement got them more open looks –they still finished with an extraordinary 28 assists on 37 field goals- than opponents typically have had against the Spurs this season, but they didn’t have their legs underneath them to make those looks count.

Having missed the past two games due to a sprained left ankle, Aldridge returned to the starting lineup Wednesday night and contributed 18 points, while Kawhi Leonard racked up a game-high 26 in an 88-83 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavs also had a bright spot from the bench as point guard Devin Harris added 11 points and three rebounds in a losing cause.

“The defence was the key”, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. San Antonio pushed its lead to 46-35 on an Aldridge put-back with 1:01 to play in the second quarter. The Nuggets led 31-20 after Will Barton nailed a 20-foot jumper with 8:30 left in the second quarter. They appeared to use all of their energy in erasing an early deficit and were out of gas by the second quarter when the Spurs made their decisive run. “They do a lot of the little things to be one of the top defensive teams in the league”.

In ATS trends, the Nuggets are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games and 4-1 ATS in their last five games against a team with a home winning record above.600, while the Mavs are 4-0 ATS in their last four home games and 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall.

The Hawks trailed early, facing separate deficits of nine and seven points in the first quarter. Millsap had eight points in the quarter. The skid immediately followed six consecutive wins.

This one isn’t expected to be close when the Spurs, a big nine-point favorite, take on the Mavericks. What followed was the only down period for the home side until garbage time, and a late flurry by Al Horford and Dennis Schroder gave the Hawks a 25-23 lead after one.

Denver lost its fifth game in a row and all four games on a homestand that concluded Friday. The Spurs present a formidable challenge, beating Denver 91-80 on Friday for their 10th victory in 11 games and leading the National Basketball Association in points allowed per game (89.8).

The Mavericks will get a few days to rest, regroup and get set for the Denver Nuggets at American Airlines Center on Saturday night for a 7:30pm CT tip off. The Nuggets also committed 18 turnovers.