Pelicans at Spurs
San Antonio Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard was MVP runner-up last
season and he appears highly interested in winning the award this
season. Leonard is the first player in NBA history to open a season with
back-to-back 30-point, five-steal efforts since steals became a stat in
1973-74 and looks for another strong effort Saturday when the Spurs
host the New Orleans Pelicans.
Leonard averaged 32.5 points and five steals as San Antonio won consecutive road games against the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings. "You see players play at an extremely high level on offense, but this guys does it on both ends," Spurs center Pau Gasol told reporters. "It's hard to say where he's more exceptional. He's a very special player." New Orleans star power forward Anthony Davis is off to a sensational start of his own with scoring efforts of 50 and 45 points but neither spectacular performance could prevent a loss. "Obviously I thought he was great again," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said after Friday's 122-114 home loss to the Golden State Warriors. "We've got to get a few more guys making shots, though. If they're going to send two, three guys at him, we've got to have some guys step up."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBA TV, FSN New Orleans, FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE PELICANS (0-2): Davis also had 17 rebounds in the loss to Golden State — he had 16 in the opener against Denver — and is the seventh player in NBA history to have at least 45 points and 15 rebounds in consecutive games. The 23-year-old star has battled injuries during his first four NBA campaigns but seems on a mission to step his game up an additional level. "The dude is an All-Star," New Orleans point guard Tim Frazier told reporters. "You've seen him do it in back-to-back games and I'm sure he'll do it again (Saturday in San Antonio). He finds his way. He's versatile — he can score on 3-pointers, jump shots, layups, dunks, free throws and you can hardly stop him."
ABOUT THE SPURS (2-0): Leonard downplayed his consecutive stellar performances that represented the first time a San Antonio player had at least 30 points and five steals in two straight games since Alvin Robertson in 1986. "I just tried to do something for us, lighting up our defense a little bit," Leonard said. Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge (21 points, 9.5 rebounds) also played well over the first two games after recently shooting down speculation that he is unhappy playing second fiddle to Leonard.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Gasol averaged just 4.5 points on 4-of-11 shooting in his first two games with the Spurs.
2. New Orleans backup SGs Langston Galloway (2-of-12) and Buddy Hield (3-of-14) are both shooting poorly.
3. San Antonio won three of last season's four meetings.