THE San Antonio Spurs found plenty of firepower even without top guns Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge to overcome a 28-point deficit and rally past the Sacramento Kings, 114-104, at the AT&T Center on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time)
Trailing 59-31 with over four minutes left in the second quarter, the Spurs began storming back with a strong 17-4 finish in the first half to cut the gap to 15 at the break. Then David Lee got going in a 16-8 blitz to start the third before Pau Gasol tied the game at 82 in the closing seconds of the period to cap another 18-6 San Antonio rally.
The Spurs finally took the lead, 95-92, with 6:26 to play after a Patty Mills triple capped a 13-6 start in the fourth, and a pair of treys by Danny Green sparked a 13-5 surge to put away the Kings for good.
Manu Ginobili led the Spurs (50-13), who rested Leonard and Aldridge, to their ninth straight win with 19 points, while Lee had a double-double of 18 markers and 10 rebounds. Mills also had a double-double off the bench with 17 points and 10 assists. Ginobili, Mills, and Green, who had 14 points, combined for 11 of the team’s 14 threes.
San Antonio notched a league record 18 straight 50-win seasons.
Tyreke Evans had a season-high 26 points for Sacramento (25-39), losers of six in a row. Rookie Skal Labissiere also added 15 markers.