The Thanksgiving holiday did not include a trip to snowy Denver for Spurs veterans Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, who stayed in San Antonio on Friday for an extended rest.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone wasn’t shedding any tears about their absence.
“I have no problem with it,” Malone said before the Nuggets hosted the Spurs to close a four-game homestand. “(Spurs coach Gregg) Popovich, he’s thinking about June. He’s not thinking about the day after Thanksgiving. He knows his team better than anybody.”
Then again, it’s much easier to rest stars when you have three others patrolling the starting lineup.
Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high 25 points while sitting out much of the fourth quarter, Tony Parker helped jolt his team out of an early malaise and the Spurs ensured a winless homestand for the Nuggets with a 91-80 victory at the Pepsi Center.
“He hit some really tough shots,” Malone said. “Give Kawhi a lot of credit because he hit tough shots. He can score in a lot of ways.”
The loss was the fifth straight for the Nuggets (6-10), who were once again overwhelmed by a superior Western Conference opponent. A five-game road trip, with four contests against Eastern Conference teams, begins Saturday.
It can’t come soon enough.
Once again, an early lead was merely a mirage for Denver. The Nuggets led 31-20 after Will Barton nailed a 20-foot jumper with 8:30 left in the second quarter. But the Spurs chipped away, then exploded for a 12-0 run over the final 2:38 of the first half, with Parker scoring the final seven points during that spurt.
The second half belonged to Leonard. The former NBA Finals MVP scored 13 points in the third quarter — only four fewer than the Nuggets tallied as a team in the period — displaying the improved offensive arsenal that has the 6-foot-7 forward one of the league’s most complete players. He tormented the Nuggets’ smaller guards with an array of low post moves, hit 2-of-4 shots from 3-point range and dished out six assists to go with seven rebounds. He also put the screws on the Nuggets defensively with four steals and five blocks.
“We hit adversity and we don’t handle it very well,” Malone said. “We have to play 48 minutes. … When teams go on runs, we lose belief pretty quickly.”
Leonard was so effective that the Spurs needed very little from their big offseason acquisition, LaMarcus Aldridge, who had eight points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.
The Nuggets had no answer on offense. Rookie guard Emmanuel Mudiay struggled once again against the Spurs’ staunch defense. In two games against San Antonio this season, Mudiay has scored 14 points on 19.2 percent (5-of-26) shooting.
“We have to finish quarters right, that’s the main thing. I think it’s awareness, not dropping our heads when a team goes on a run,” Mudiay said.
“Our inability to finish around the rim is a concern,” Malone said. “We miss more layups than any team I’ve been around.”
Danilo Gallinari led Denver with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
As for the Spurs, it was business as usual, even without two mainstays of the team.
“It’s their job,” Popovich said of others stepping up. “They get paid a lot of money to do that.”
