Gregg Popovich ties Pat Riley for road wins as Spurs beat Wolves

MINNEAPOLIS — Under coach Gregg Popovich, the San Antonio Spurs have been consistent winners. That includes when they go on the road — and anywhere they play the Minnesota Timberwolves.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points, Rudy Gay added 22 and the Spurs held on to give Popovich another milestone victory in a 116-113 win against the Timberwolves on Friday night.


Popovich earned his 520th career win on the road, tying Pat Riley for the most in NBA history.

“We got through some stuff and it’s always good to win on the road,” Popovich said. “It’s always difficult to do, but when you do it feels pretty good.”



The win also continued San Antonio’s mastery of Minnesota. The Spurs have won 16 of the past 18 games between the teams. San Antonio is 59-25 in the series since Popovich took over as coach for the 1996-97 season.

Marco Belinelli added 19 points off the bench for San Antonio, which played without leading scorer DeMar DeRozan because of left ankle soreness.

“Coach Pop said don’t think about it and play basketball, and we’ve got to win the game no matter what,” forward Davis Bertans said.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points for the Timberwolves but fouled out after only 21 minutes. Derrick Rose chipped in 23 points and Taj Gibson added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota.

Another matchup between the familiar foes was tight throughout, with 27 lead changes and 17 ties. It also featured a heavy dose of fouls on both sides. The teams combined for 53 personal fouls and 67 free throws.

“We’re a no-excuse team,” Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders said. “We made our own mistakes at times. We had opportunities to win. So, there’s nothing on the officials.”

Towns picked up his fourth foul less than two minutes into the second half, and again went to the bench. Josh Okogie had six points and Jeff Teague added five as Minnesota used a 14-1 run to take a 77-67 lead.

The Spurs responded with a 13-2 spurt of their own as Bertans hit a pair of 3-pointers.

“We had a 10-point lead. We didn’t close out the show,” Towns said. “We didn’t do what we needed to do to come out with a win. That’s the disappointing thing about tonight. That’s our next step in maturation of our team.”



The Wolves led 90-88 to start the fourth, but Bertans opened the quarter with another 3. San Antonio led by seven in the fourth, but Minnesota clawed back within one with 30.3 seconds left on Rose’s layup.

Belinelli hit two free throws and Rose’s 3 at the buzzer was off the mark.

TIP-INS

Spurs: Popovich is third in NBA history with 1,224 wins overall. He passed Jerry Sloan for third place on Jan. 10. … San Antonio entered 4-17 this season when trailing after three quarters.

Timberwolves: Tyus Jones missed the game with a left ankle sprain sustained Tuesday at Philadelphia. Robert Covington missed his eighth straight game with a right knee bone bruise. … Andrew Wiggins passed Sam Mitchell for second place on the franchise’s career scoring list. Wiggins has 7,174 points. Kevin Garnett is first with 19,201 points in a Wolves uniform. … After scoring his 10,000th career point on Tuesday, Rose got his 3,000th assist on Friday. … Minnesota announced that Jerry Sichting was hired as an assistant coach. It is Sichting’s third stint with the Wolves. He spent 10 years with the team from 1995-2005 and two seasons from 2007-09.

ON THE MEND

DeRozan said he expects to play Sunday “without a doubt” even though he’s “a little banged up.”

“I pride myself in not missing a practice, not missing a game,” he said. “When you play a lot of minutes, a lot of things accumulate that you’ve got to deal with, so it was kind of good just to get a rest. Don’t play until Sunday, get some treatment. So, a couple days for me is going to be big.”


DeRozan began the day 20th in the league in points per game (21.7) and 13th in assists (6.4).

TOWNS FOULS

It was the sixth time Towns has fouled out this season, and the second time against San Antonio. He entered tied for first in the NBA in fouls per game at 3.8

“I’m going to save my money because whatever I say won’t change anything,” Towns said.

UP NEXT

Spurs: Return home against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

Timberwolves: Host the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Aldridge, Ginobili rescue Spurs against Celtics

SAN ANTONIO — Manu Ginobili hit a 3-pointer with 5 seconds remaining and the San Antonio Spurs overcame Kyrie Irving’s 36-point effort to beat Boston 105-102 on Friday night, snapping the Celtics’ four-game winning streak.

Ginobili set up the winning basket by sneaking into the paint for an offensive rebound with 25 seconds left.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio.

Irving, who scored a career-high 57 points against San Antonio in 2015 while with Cleveland, created havoc again at the AT&T Center. Irving finished 13 for 21, including 6 for 10 on 3-pointers, but missed his final two 3s. His final 3-pointer rattled in and out as the buzzer sounded.

The Spurs, already without Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Anderson, lost Danny Green in the first half. Green left with tightness in his left groin. There was no update on the severity of the injury.

Pau Gasol had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Rudy Gay had 15 points, and Tony Parker added 11 for the Spurs. The Spurs are undefeated with Parker in the lineup through six games.

San Antonio held Boston to one field goal in the opening four minutes of the final quarter to erase a five-point deficit to set up the last-second dramatics.

Jayson Tatum had 20 points, and Jaylen Brown added 15 for the Celtics.

Boston scored the game’s first 11 points, prompting San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich to call a timeout and make mass substitutions during the run. Irving hit two more 3-pointers after the initial run, and Popovich drew a technical foul.

The Spurs’ first lead on a fallaway 3-pointer by Ginobili at the close of the first half for a 56-55 advantage.

Brown had 10 points in the third, including two monstrous dunks late in the quarter that awed the crowd.

TIP-INS

Celtics: Forward Marcus Morris was listed as questionable while rehabilitating his left knee, but felt comfortable enough during pre-game warmups to play. Morris finished with five points in 25 minutes after being listed. … Boston suffered its first loss to a Western Conference after winning eight straight. … The Celtics are 10-3 on the road, trailing only Houston (11-1) and Golden State (11-3) for the league’s best road record.

Spurs: Popovich would not confirm a report by the San Antonio Express-News that Leonard will make his season debut Saturday in Phoenix. “Sooner rather than later,” Popovich said, repeating the answer he has given all season about the All-Star forward’s return. … Parker has played 36,000 career minutes as a starter, 24th in league history. … Ginobili has played 26,000 minutes in his career, all with the Spurs, the fourth most in franchise history behind Tim Duncan, Parker and David Robinson. … Green has 500 steals and 401 blocks in his career. Green, LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the only players since 2009 with 500 steals, 400 blocks and 800 3-pointers.

UP NEXT

Celtics: Visit Detroit on Sunday night in a battle between two of the top four records in the Eastern Conference.

Spurs: Visit Phoenix on Saturday night in what could be Leonard’s season debut.

source: sports.inquirer.net

NBA: Aldridge spurs San Antonio past Raptors

LOS ANGELES—LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 points as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Toronto Raptors 108-106 on Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila) to stay on the heels of the Golden State Warriors at the top of the Western Conference.

Aldridge, who also grabbed seven rebounds and two assists, led the scoring as the Spurs notched their fifth win on the trot to improve to 36-9, two games behind the Warriors (38-7).

Toronto’s defeat was their fourth straight loss however, and their challenge was hampered by the absence of DeMar DeRozan, who sprained an ankle at the weekend.

The Spurs, who sat Kawhi Leonard, had surged into a 13-point lead at one stage in the first half but Toronto drew level in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter at the Air Canada Centre.

Dejounte Murray gave San Antonio a two-point lead with a jump shot before Toronto’s Terrence Ross missed a 25-foot effort with 1:17 to play.

The Raptors meanwhile were unable to punish a Spurs turnover with 45 seconds left before Aldridge scored two key free throws to help get San Antonio over the line.

Patty Mills was the other main scorer for San Antonio with 18 points while Dave Bertans (12) and David Lee (11) also made key contributions.

Kyle Lowry topped Toronto’s scoring with 30 points while Ross added 21 points off the bench.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Spurs keep winning, Heat lose but clinch playoff spot

Kawhi Leonard had a career-high 33 points, while LaMarcus Aldrige had 31 points and 15 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Toronto Raptors 102-95 Saturday (Sunday Manila time) for their franchise-record 64th victory.

San Antonio never trailed and topped its 63-win season in 2005-06. The Spurs also extended their NBA-record home winning streak to start a season to 39 games.

The Spurs closed it out at the free-throw line, capturing their 48th straight home victory dating to March 2015.

Norman Powell had 17 points, Jonas Valanciunas and Cory Joseph added 16 points and Patrick Patterson had 12 points for the Raptors.

In Portland, C.J. McCollum had 24 points and made all six of his 3-point attempts to help the Trail Blazers beat Miami 110-93 for their seventh straight home win.

Despite the loss, the Heat still clinched a playoff spot after the Chicago Bulls lost to Detroit earlier in the evening. However, having come into the game tied for the third seed in the East, Miami dropped to sixth with the loss.

The Blazers made 10 3-pointers to break a franchise record for 3-pointers in a season with 808. They are in sixth place in the Western Conference and have not clinched a playoff spot yet.

Damian Lillard did not play in the fourth quarter and finished with 18 points for the Blazers. Gerald Henderson came off the bench to score 17 points.

Hassan Whiteside led the Heat with 21 points and 13 assists.

In Chicago, Reggie Jackson scored 22 points and Tobias Harris added 21 as Detroit overcame Jimmy Butler’s first career triple-double to beat the Bulls 94-90.

Marcus Morris had 16 points and Andre Drummond had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, who remain on track for a playoff spot.

Butler had 28 points and career highs of 17 rebounds and 12 assists. Pau Gasol had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Detroit is a half-game ahead of Indiana for seventh in the Eastern Conference and 2 1/2 games up on ninth-place Chicago.

C.J. Miles scored 25 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:39 left as Indiana rallied to beat short-handed Philadelphia, 115-102.

Paul George added 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Indiana, the eighth seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. Rodney Stuckey scored 17 points.

Isaiah Canaan had 24 points for Philadelphia (9-68), which needs one victory in its remaining five games to avoid matching the 1972-73 Sixers for the worst full-season record in NBA history.

Rudy Gay had 25 points and nine rebounds and Seth Curry scored 17 points to help Sacramento beat Denver 115-106 to sweep the three-game season series.

Darren Collison had 14 points and eight assists and Willie Cauley-Stein and Ben McLemore scored 14 points each for Sacramento, which played without DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo.

Gary Harris led Denver with 19 points and Emmanuel Mudiay and Joffrey Lauvergne had 15 apiece.

source: sports.inquirer.net

NBA: Spurs stretch home win streak with Warriors up next

LOS ANGELES—Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge each scored 22 points and the San Antonio Spurs beat Portland 118-110 Thursday, boosting their home record this season to 34-0 and stretching their overall NBA home win streak to 43 games.

French guard Tony Parker added 18 points and 16 assists, his most since 2012, while Australia’s Patty Mills came off the bench to contribute 17 points in the triumph, which improved the Spurs to 58-10 this season.

Not since falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 12 of last year have the Spurs been defeated in San Antonio.

But that streak will receive a major test Saturday when the Spurs host the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, the first of three meetings between the Western Conference powerhouses over the final month of the season.

The Warriors have lost 32 games in a row in San Antonio. Golden State has not beaten the Spurs in San Antonio since February 14, 1997, when Warriors star Stephen Curry was eight years old.

The Spurs’ streak is the third-longest in NBA history behind a 44-game Chicago run in 1995-96 and the ongoing streak of Golden State, which has won 50 home games in a row over two seasons.

San Antonio’s 34-0 home start is the second best home run to open an NBA season, trailing only the 37 in a row by Chicago in 1995-96.

Golden State, which is 61-6 and chasing Chicago’s 1995-96 team’s 72-10 mark for the all-time best season in NBA history, could move past both those home marks this season but have not yet played enough home games.

The Spurs led 56-54 at half-time then scored the first 10 points of the third quarter and surged ahead by as much as 19 in the period. Leonard scored 11 points in the third quarter to spark the run and San Antonio never looked back to the finish.

Hornets get rare Miami win



At Miami, Kemba Walker had 21 points, seven assists and seven rebounds as the Charlotte Hornets rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat the host Heat 109-106. Al Jefferson added 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Hornets broke a 12-game losing streak in games at Miami.

Britain’s Luol Deng led the Heat with 22 points and nine rebounds, but left the game with a bloody mouth after colliding in the final seconds with Jeremy Lin, who made four late free throws to secure victory for the Hornets.

Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan each scored 28 points to lift the Toronto Raptors over host Indiana 101-94 in overtime. The Raptors improved to 46-21, while the Pacers fell to 1-7 in overtime games and slid to 36-32 overall.

John Wall had 16 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds — his seventh career NBA “triple-double” — while Marcus Thornton scored 18 points to spark the Washington Wizards past host Philadelphia 99-94. The Wizards improved to 33-35, 1 1/2 games behind Chicago for the last Eastern Conference playoff berth.

At Chicago, Doug McDermott came off the Bulls bench to score 25 points and lead the hosts over Brooklyn 118-102. Jimmy Butler scored 22 points and passed out seven assists for the Bulls.

Tim Hardaway produced 21 points in his first Atlanta start to lead eight double-figure scorers for the Hawks in a 116-98 victory over visiting Denver.

At Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 15 points and added 11 assists, six rebounds and three blocks as the Milwaukee Bucks beat Memphis 96-86, handing the Grizzlies their fourth loss in a row.

Trey Lyles came off the bench to score 17 points and lead a balanced scoring attack that powered Utah over Phoenix 103-69.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Blazers burn up Heat 99-83 to close on NBA lead

PORTLAND, Oregon — Portland used a big third quarter to beat Miami 99-83 on Thursday, pushing the Trail Blazers closer to the top of the NBA standings.

In the day’s other games, Charlotte won at Toronto while Houston predictably defeated New York, sending the hapless Knicks to their 14th successive loss.

Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 12 rebounds, including 10 points in the third, when the Blazers outscored the Heat 33-16 to take control of the game.

Wesley Matthews had 18 points for Portland, which moved a yawning 11 games clear in the Northwest Division and closed within 1-1/2 games of league leader Golden State.

Dwyane Wade led Miami with 23 points.

Charlotte’s Gerald Henderson scored a season-high 31 points and Kemba Walker added 29 to lead the Hornets past Toronto 103-95.

Walker made a jumper from just inside the 3-point line with 19.6 seconds to give the Hornets a six-point lead, all but securing their fourth straight win.

Kyle Lowry’s 24 points, seven assists and seven rebounds led the Raptors, who were coming off a six-game trip.

New York’s 120-96 home defeat by Houston stretched the Knicks’ losing streak to 14; their worst ever within a single season.

The Rockets beat New York for the 11th straight time and handed the Knicks their 24th loss in 25 games.

James Harden had 25 points and nine assists in just three quarters, with the Rockets already up by 24 points at the last break.

Trevor Ariza added 18 points for the Rockets.

Rookie Travis Wear scored a season-high 21 points for New York, which is closing in on its worst-ever losing streak of 20, which straddled the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons.

source: sports.inquirer.net