Spurs 114, Hornets 94
SAN ANTONIO – Small forward Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points, and San Antonio went berserk offensively in the third quarter of a 114-94 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night at the A&T Center.
The Spurs shot 55.6 percent for the game, but it wasn't until their 42-point explosion in the third quarter that they took control.
Guard Manu Ginobili knocked down three 3-pointers and point guard Patty Mills added another one in the middle of a 24-2 run late in the third that turned a six-point deficit into an 89-73 advantage. That spurt culminated with Charlotte coach Steve Clifford being hit with a technical foul.
Spurs power forward LaMarcus Aldridge battled through foul trouble to put in 16 points in 17 minutes, Ginobili added 13 and power forward Tim Duncan chipped in with 11 points and forward David West collected a team-high nine rebounds.
Guard Kemba Walker scored a game-high 27 points for Charlotte. The Hornets picked up 13 points from power forward Al Jefferson, while guards Jeremy Lin and Nicolas Batum scored 12 and 10, respectively.
Charlotte actually got out of the halftime gates quicker than the Spurs. The Hornets trailed 51-47 at intermission, but needed only a minute to score seven straight points to move in front. It was all Spurs after that.
Mills continued his hot shooting in the fourth with a pair of 3-pointers that helped him to a 15-point night and kept the Hornets from mounting a serious threat.
Walker was able to get to the basket and knock down long-range shots and score from everywhere in-between to while going 11-of-15 shooting from the floor.
He set the tone for his night early, when he scored 10 straight points to help the Hornets to a 14-8 start, but the Spurs closed the opening 12 minutes by scoring 14 of the last 16 points. That burst included a Leonard 3-pointer with two seconds left to help them take control, 29-21.
The teams traded baskets for much of the first seven minutes of the second quarter, a span during which the Spurs led by as many as 12 on three occasions.
The last of those came with 6:12 to go before halftime, when Aldridge drilled a midrange jumper to make it a 44-32 game. But San Antonio went cold after that and didn't make another field goal over the next four-plus minutes, and Charlotte took advantage with a 10-0 run that cut its deficit to 46-45.
Duncan ended the Spurs' scoring drought with a pair of free throw at the 3:04 mark, then split a pair and rolled in a layup a minute later before Walker closed the first-half scoring with a long jumper from the left side.
NOTES: San Antonio SF Kawhi Leonard entered Saturday's game in the top 20 in the league in five categories (scoring, rebounding, steals, blocks and free-throw percentage). ... The Spurs swept the season series against the Hornets last season, and ran their winning streak against them to 10 straight with Saturday's victory. ... Charlotte F Nicolas Batum is one of four players in franchise history to have at least 60 points, 30 rebounds and 20 assists in the first five games. ... Hornets G Kemba Walker moved into fourth place on the franchise's all-time list for 3-pointers made against Dallas on Nov. 5. He made two against the Spurs to raise his total to 378.