Spurs 109, Nuggets 98
SAN ANTONIO -- Guard Tony Parker poured in a season-high 25 points, and forward Kawhi Leonard added 20 points as the San Antonio Spurs outshot the Denver Nuggets 109-98 Wednesday for their sixth consecutive victory.
The Nuggets stayed within shouting distance early in the fourth quarter as forward Kenneth Faried hit for two baskets and a free throw and guard Jameer Nelson added a driving jumper. However, Leonard went to the rim for a layup off a feed by forward David West and then hit a long 3-pointer to put the game out of reach.
The Spurs (9-2) moved to 5-0 at home this season.
San Antonio got 17 points from reserve guard Patty Mills. Forward Tim Duncan scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and forward LaMarcus Aldridge added 11 points and 12 rebounds. It was the fourth consecutive game that the Spurs had at least five players score in double figures.
Denver (6-6) was led by reserve center Nikola Jokic's 23 points and 12 rebounds. The Nuggets got 15 points apiece from Faried and guard Gary Harris, while their leading scorer, forward Danilo Gallinari, hit for just nine points.
San Antonio led 31-24 at the end of the first quarter behind eight points from Mills and 50 percent shooting from the floor. The Nuggets got nine points in the period by Harris and got seven points off eight offensive rebounds, a rarity against San Antonio's dominant and long frontcourt players.
The Spurs posted a season-high in first-half scoring (65 points), field-goal percentage (58.5 percent) and 3-point field-goal percentage (75 percent) but led by just seven points at halftime as Denver scored 34 points in the paint. Nine players, led by Jokic's 12 points, scored for the Nuggets before halftime, and 10 players -- paced by Parker's 15 points (11 in the second quarter) -- lit the scoreboard for the Spurs.
Parker kept up his scoring binge in the early third quarter, hitting three baskets in a two-minute stretch to help give the Spurs an 81-66 lead, their biggest of the game. By quarter's end, San Antonio already had four of its starters with 10 points or more.
Gallinari managed just five points through the first three quarters, but the attention he drew from the Spurs' big men inside allowed Faried and Jokic some room to work and score.
NOTES: After scoring 17 points (14 in the fourth quarter) in the Spurs' 96-80 win against Portland on Monday, guard Mano Ginobili will miss San Antonio's next two games with bilateral hip tightness. He will be re-evaluated prior to Saturday's game vs. Memphis. ... The Spurs were 4-0 against Denver in 2014-15. ... San Antonio held the Nuggets to an NBA record-low three points in the first quarter on Nov. 27, 2002. ... Denver C Joffrey Lauvergne and San Antonio G Tony Parker and F Boris Diaw are teammates on the French national team. ... Nuggets F Danilo Gallinari scored a season-high 32 points Tuesday in Denver's 115-98 win at New Orleans. Gallinari has had six 20-plus point games this season and has scored in double figures in nine of the Nuggets' 11 outings. ... Denver shot a season-best 52.9 percent in the win against New Orleans and is 4-0 when shooting 50 percent or better this year.