Spurs beat Nuggets 123-111 Thursday night at the AT&T Center
SAN ANTONIO —
Recap
First Quarter
The Spurs won the tipoff, and Dejounte Murray kicked off the scoring by knocking down a triple.
Derrick White netted a crafty layup and then hit a three, and Keita Bates-Diop made his mark in the early going with a corner three. Jakob Poeltl leads the league in offensive rebounds as Nuggets coach Mike Malone noted before the game, and he tapped one out to Doug McDermott for three more. When McDermott missed his next, Poeltl was there to put it back in.
McDermott took a handoff and drove to the basket, finishing a tough lefty scoop to put the Spurs up 22-12 and draw a timeout from Denver.
Aaron Gordon led a run for the Nuggets, hitting a few tough reverse layups and assisting on a three before a timeout by Popovich. Bryn Forbes and Lonnie Walker IV entered the game, and the latter immediately passed to the former with perfect timing for a three.
Gordon reversed again and dunked it this time to cut San Antonio's lead to three. Denver had a few looks to tie from the top, but missed.
Devin Vassell made his return to the court after missing several games with a quad injury, and he helped out on Jokic in the paint to rip a steal. Lonnie protected the ball well on a physical drive to the rim.
Drew Eubanks made a few layups as well, and he closed the quarter with free throws to put the Spurs up 37-29 at the end of 12 minutes.
Second Quarter
Denver defended the Spurs well for the entire shot clock, but the ball found Dejounte and Dejounte dribbled behind a screen and drilled a triple off the bounce.
On the next possession, he drove and kicked to Lonnie on the wing for a three that hit nothing but nylon.
Thad Young entered the game for the first time early in the second, and Doug McDermott got to the line to put the Spurs up 15.
San Antonio went to a zone defense briefly to shake things up.
Devin took a dribble handoff from Thad Young, but reversed course to beat his man to the paint. Help came, but Vassell soared past him and slammed it down. On the other end, he skied in for a block.
Lonnie drove in pick and roll right into Jokic's chest for a tough layup. Vassell penetrated off a screen, pulled up from 15 feet and drained it. Lonnie came around and got a handoff from Jak, and he swished the open three to become the first Spur in double figures.
Vassell once again drove off a catch in the corner, beat his man and got to the cup for a scoop layup.
Most of the starters came back in, and McDermott knocked down his second three to join Walker in double figures.
The Spurs had a chance to push their lead to 20, but Denver ripped off a run with a trio of triples to cut it to 10.
Denver employed the "Hack-a-Jak" strategy, and the 32% free-throw shooter missed both before picking up his third foul and heading to the bench for the final few minutes of the half.
Jokic, predictably, was all over Drew Eubanks. The Nugets cut it to four before Eubanks nailed a corner three.
San Antonio led 74-65 at the break.
Third Quarter
San Antonio's shooting wasn't the sharpest coming out of the break, but Denver couldn't keep Jak off the offensive glass.
McDermott hit his third three of the game, and White and Murray each scored in the paint.
Denver didn't just roll over, and Gordon looked determined on a number of drives to the hoop.
Poeltl picked up his fourth foul of the game on a rather silly play, moving Jokic around in the paint as a teammate drove.
Both teams stepped up a bit on defense, allowing just 13 apiece more than halfway through the period.
Lonnie found Derrick for his second three of the game, and White got free throws on the next play to extend San Antonio's lead back to double digits.
Jokic went to the bench with the spurs up 8 and a little under 15 minutes to play. San Antonio threw it away and gave up transition layups twice in a row before Murray found Vassell for a three to settle things down.
Eubanks thrilled the crowd with a huge block, and after an incredible possession of ball movement and an offensive rebound, Murray swished his third three of the game to extend the lead to 10.
San Antonio carried a 100-90 lead into the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Tre Jones caught at the arc, drove across the court to the weak side, and kicked it to Lonnie who had nobody near him when he let fly.
Poeltl came back in the game and swatted a shot by Facundo Campazzo, who is a good foot shorter than him. A taller player tried the same thing, and suffered the same result.
Walker cut to the rim and finished a shot with an extreme degree of difficulty. Then he caught at the arc, faked a pass, drove middle, and dished a slick dime to Poeltl underneath for a layup.
A pair of threes by JaMychal Green cut San Antonio's lead to just five, and Pop called time. Jokic came back in, meaning the Nuggets were able to draw three points closer while he rested.
Walker drove in and floated one home over the defender at the rim, giving him 21 points. Denver answered, but White drove in to match Walker with 21 and give the Spurs a 9-point advantage.
White drove in and hit a floater at warp speed to extend San Antonio's lead back to double digits. Denver answered with a three, but Dejounte swallowed up a pass and drove the other way for free throws.
Poeltl picked up his fifth foul on yet another call that made everyone in the AT&T Center say, "huh?"
Jak set a screen for Murray rolled to the basket, put in a layup through contact, and even hit the free throw. Denver called timeout down 119-109 with 3:32 left.
The starters stayed in, but didn't execute the play well, turning it over. Murray drove past Gordon and scooped it up and in, White took a signature charge on AG, DJ hit another floater, and that about put things out of reach for the tired Nuggets.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (8-15) will host the Denver Nuggets (12-12) tonight as the Spurs will look to snap their two-game losing streak.
In the Spurs' previous game, the team suffered a 121-109 loss to the Knicks at home Tuesday night.
Derrick White scored 26 points, Dejounte Murray had 15 points and seven assists for San Antonio and Bryn Forbes poured in 12 points.
The Nuggets went to overtime last night in New Orleans, and they're dealing with a number of injuries to key players like Michael Porter Jr. Keldon Johnson is out for this one, and Keita Bates Diop is replacing him in the starting lineup.
RELATED: Fan Episode - Will the Spurs be seeing more wins and what about the NBA Draft? | Locked On Spurs
Here are five things to watch for in tonight's game:
1. In their two-game losing streak, the Spurs have been outrebounded in each game by the Suns and Knicks.
2. The third-period woes. The Spurs are 0-12 this season when trailing after the third.
3. The Spurs have lost three-straight to Denver.
4. The Spurs bench is averaging 39.6 points per game.
5. In four games played in December, the Spurs are connecting on 12.3 three-pointers and averaging 37%.
Stay here throughout the season for complete Spurs coverage.
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5