Leonard, Gasol help Spurs stop Suns
PHOENIX -- Kawhi Leonard and Pau Gasol scored 18 points apiece and the San Antonio Spurs used a 21-3 run in the fourth quarter to put away the Phoenix Suns 107-92 on Thursday.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Spurs (21-5), who won 14 of 15 road games this season and three in a row overall. They hadn't played on the road since taking their only loss, 95-91 at the Chicago Bulls on Dec. 8. Leonard and Gasol grabbed 10 and nine rebounds, respectively.
Devin Booker had 17 points and Eric Bledsoe added 14 for the Suns (8-18), who hung with the Spurs for three quarters before falling victim to the decisive run.
Down by nine late in the third quarter, the Suns rallied and took their last lead at 77-76 on a Leandro Barbosa 3-point play with 10:08 left.
But Phoenix scored only one basket over the next six minutes while the Spurs ran away and stretched their lead to 17 at 97-80 on an Aldridge hook shot with 4:19 left.
The Spurs dominated the back half of the first and second quarters to build a halftime lead.
All five Suns starters scored to help the Suns build an early 14-7 lead. But the Spurs answered with a 14-2 run, with Dewayne Demond's alley-oop dunk off a Patty Mills feed giving San Antonio a 21-16 lead.
The Spurs took a 23-20 lead to the second period before Jared Dudley had five points during a 19-8 spurt, with a Tyson Chandler dunk off a Bledsoe assist giving the Suns a 39-33 lead with 4:45 left.
Again, the Spurs closed with a flourish, outscoring the Suns 18-4 from there. Leonard had 10 of his 14 first-half points in the quarter and a Marquese Chriss goaltending call with 8.1 seconds left gave San Antonio a 51-43 lead at the break.
The third quarter was a reversal. The Spurs took their biggest lead at 68-59 on a Mills 3-pointer with 3:01 left, but the Suns finished strong with a 13-5 run down the stretch. Booker had eight points in the quarter for the Suns, who trailed 74-71 after three.
NOTES: The Suns played without C Alex Len (hip) and F T.J. Warren (head). ... C Tyson Chandler is the only player in Suns history to record back-to-back games with 20 or more rebounds (twice). He entered the game with 44 rebounds in the past two games against the New Orleans Pelicans (21 on Sunday) and New York Knicks (23 on Tuesday). At 34, Chandler is averaging 12.2 rebounds per game. The six players who averaged 12 rebounds or more a game beyond their 34th birthday are all Hall of Famers (Charles Barkley, Wilt Chamberlain, Dikembe Mutombo, Robert Parish, Dennis Rodman and Bill Russell). ... The Suns have played five overtime games, the most ever 25 games into a season. The most they have played in a season is nine (2010-11). The Spurs' 13-0 start on the road was the second-best road winning streak to start a season in NBA history. The Warriors were 14-0 on the road to start 2015-16.