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Kawhi Leonard Leads Spurs to 88-83 Win Against Dallas
Posted On Nov 26 2015
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San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9), of France, shoots against… Dirk Nowitzki added 13 points for Dallas (9-7), who lost their third straight game.
The Spurs’ defense was solid in the first half, and didn’t allow a single Maverick to score more than six points, and held the team to 32% shooting.
Spurs: David West made his first 3-pointer of the season, kicking his legs out and throwing up a shot with 0.4 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Leonard hit a 12-foot jumper with 51 seconds to play, but Mavericks guard Devin Harris nailed a 3-pointer to cut the margin to one with 33 seconds left. San Antonio now leads the league in DefRtg, only allowing a shade over 90 points per 100 possessions from it’s opponents.
It was Leonard’s play down the stretch that won the game for the Spurs. LA has six double-doubles, and he’s scored double-digit points in all but one game this season, but his 15.3 points per game are way down from the 23.4 he averaged with Portland last season.
“Tonight, I got a chance to make some shots for my team to win the game, and that’s what happened”, Leonard said.
Leonard finished with a game-high 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
But San Antonio failed to maintain that productivity on offense, and relied on defense to pull out the victory.
“I thought they started the game off pretty well and knocked us on our heels a little bit”, Nowitzki said. Once again Leonard responded, this time with a three with 15 seconds left to seal the game.
Andrew Wiggins added 15 points despite shooting just five-of-17 from the floor, and Damjan Rudez had a season-high 13 points as part of a Timberwolves bench that scored 58. Mavericks G Wesley Matthews was born in San Antonio…. He was assisted off the court after twisting the ankle while backpedaling defensively. Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said he did not know the severity of Barea’s injury.
“He (Kawhi) is growing”, Aldridge said. “I like the fight we showed the entire game”. “I gained rather than lose anything”.
