Spurs 108, Clippers 87
SAN ANTONIO -- Kawhi Leonard poured in 20 points to lead five San Antonio players in double figures as the Spurs turned a close game into a rout in the fourth quarter and walloped the Los Angeles Clippers 108-87 Tuesday night.
The Spurs (57-10) led by just a point heading to the final quarter but ran away from Los Angeles in the first four minutes of the period and never looked back.
San Antonio's bench and its defense made all the difference. Reserve David West had all eight of his points in the fourth-quarter run, and reserve Patty Mills had seven in that stretch. The Spurs eventually ran their lead to 99-79 and wound up winning by 21.
The victory was San Antonio's 33rd straight at home to open the season and extended the club's home-game regular-season win streak to a franchise-best 42 games, dating back to a loss to Cleveland last March. The Spurs' home streak the third-longest in NBA history, behind Chicago's 44-game regular-season run in 1995-96 and the continuing streak by Golden State (49 games).
LaMarcus Aldridge added 17 points for the Spurs, while Mills had 15. Manu Ginobili hit for 13 points, and Danny Green scored 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.
Chris Paul led the Clippers with 22 points and eight assists. DeAndre Jordan added 16 points and 14 rebounds for Los Angeles, and Jeff Green and J.J. Redick scored 15 and 14 points, respectively.
San Antonio's bench outscored the Clippers' 51-20, and the Spurs outrebounded Los Angeles 42-27.
The Clippers (42-24) took things right to San Antonio in the opening minutes, starting the game with an alley-oop pass from Paul for a dunk by Jordan and building 10-6 lead. The Spurs grabbed the momentum and the lead on an Aldridge left-handed hook and boosted their advantage to 18-15 on two free throws by reserve Kevin Martin.
However, the Clippers finished the period with a flurry, as two baskets by Paul and two free throws from Jamal Crawford granted Los Angeles a 21-19 lead at the end of the quarter.
San Antonio's bench provided a huge boost at the start of the second quarter, fashioning a 13-1 run that handed the Spurs a 31-22 lead. That margin grew to as many as 12 points, at 45-33 on a turnaround jumper by Aldridge, before the Clippers started chipping away, outscoring San Antonio 11-3 in the final minute to get back to within 48-44 at halftime.
Paul led all scorers with 18 points at the half, while the Spurs got 14 from Leonard and 13 from Aldridge in the first 24 minutes of play.
The intensity was increased in the third quarter, and the teams played a nearly even period. Green's 3-pointer from the right wing brought the Clippers even, and Crawford's pullup jumper with 14.7 seconds to play gave Los Angeles its first lead since the first quarter.
San Antonio snatched back the advantage on a running baseline jumper from reserve Kyle Anderson that went through the net with no time on the clock, and the Spurs led 71-70 heading into the final period.
San Antonio opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run that was keyed by three inside baskets by West and a ringing 3-pointer by Ginobili.
NOTES: Spurs F LaMarcus Aldridge is shooting a career-high free-throw percentage (.858). In March, he was averaging 25.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting .594 percent from the floor and .969 percent from the foul line entering Tuesday's game. ... The Clippers and Spurs split their first two meetings this season, with San Antonio winning at home 115-107 on Dec. 18 and Los Angeles grabbing a 105-86 win at Staples Center on Feb. 18. ... The Spurs clinched their fifth Southwest Division title in the past six years when they defeated Oklahoma City on Saturday. ... The Clippers feature the league leaders in field-goal percentage (C DeAndre Jordan, .696), 3-point field-goal percentage (G J.J. Redick, .478) and free-throw percentage (reserve G Jamal Crawford, .912) through Monday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no team in NBA history had the league leader in all three categories.