Spurs at Suns
The best way to bounce back from a loss is by putting on your best performance, and that's exactly what the San Antonio Spurs did in a 134-94 drubbing of the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. The Spurs will try to maintain that level of execution when they visit the Phoenix Suns in Mexico City on Saturday.
San Antonio responded to its last four losses by winning its next game by an average of 29.3 points, and Thursday's triumph was the best of the bunch as the team shot 60.5 percent from the floor and handed out 32 assists. "You never want to lose two games in a row," star small forward Kawhi Leonard, who scored 31 points on 10-of-13 shooting in the win, told reporters. "You always want to come out and show a better effort and a better mentality than you had the last game." The Suns are playing their second straight game in Mexico City and are coming off a dispiriting 113-108 loss to the Dallas Mavericks that dropped them into a tie for last place in the Western Conference. Phoenix wasted a 39-point effort from Devin Booker in the loss and dropped two straight after winning two in a row.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Southwest (San Antonio), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE SPURS (31-8): San Antonio's offensive efficiency on Thursday was highlighted by veteran center Pau Gasol, who went 9-of-9 from floor and totaled 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 26 minutes against one of his former teams. "Pau was very aggressive tonight," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "Whenever he's that aggressive it makes us a better team, so it was nice to see that." Gasol totaled 11 points on 5-of-16 shooting in the previous two games and scored in single digits in three of four contests before catching fire against the Lakers.
ABOUT THE SUNS (12-27): No one in the NBA on Thursday caught fire quite like Phoenix shooting guard Booker, who scored 28 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter and went 9-of-11 from the floor in the period. Booker, 20, went 14-of-20 from the field in the contest and 7-of-10 from 3-point range in his fourth straight game scoring at least 22 points. Booker, who is shooting 55 percent from the floor in those four games, was not quite as sharp in a 119-98 loss at San Antonio on Dec. 28, when he went 2-of-13 from the field.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Suns C Tyson Chandler is averaging 18 rebounds in the last four games.
2. Spurs reserve SG Jonathan Simmons is 11-of-16 from the floor in the last two contests.
3. San Antonio took the last nine in the series, including two meetings last month by an average of 18 points.