Spurs rout Raptors behind Leonard, Aldridge
SAN ANTONIO -- Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 23 as the San Antonio Spurs roared to a big lead in the opening quarter and ran away with a 110-82 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday at the AT&T Center.
Leonard, who had 21 points in the first half, and Aldridge, who made 11 of his 16 shots from the floor, only played the first three quarters as the Spurs (28-7) held a 30-point lead heading into the final quarter.
San Antonio is 6-1 this season in its games after a loss.
Tony Parker added 15 points and eight assists for the Spurs while also sitting out the final quarter. All 13 players who took the floor for San Antonio in the game scored as the Spurs outshot Toronto 55.1 to 37.3 percent and had 32 assists to only eight for the Raptors.
Toronto's DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 26 points (also in three quarters) while Terrance Ross poured in 17, Cory Joseph added 11 points and DeMarre Carroll hit for 10 for the Raptors (23-11), who were playing the final game of a season-high six-game road trip.
The Spurs jumped all over Toronto in the early minutes, forging a 29-12 lead that was capped by a Leonard 3-pointer that rolled out of the hoop, straight up and back down through the net at the 3:43 mark. San Antonio continued to push the ball into the paint but missed shots on four straight possessions.
On the other end, DeRozan hit his final two shots, including a jumper with 0.1 second remaining in the period to pull the Raptors to within 29-18 after the opening quarter.
Toronto did what could to get back in the game during the second quarter but were undone by a combination of defense by the Spurs and its own turnovers. Leonard scored eight consecutive points for San Antonio on a breakaway dunk after a steal by Danny Green, a 3-pointer from the corner after a steal and fast-break assist by Tony Parker and, after another Toronto turnover, a 3-pointer from the outside elbow to garner the Spurs a 54-32 lead.
San Antonio settled for a 60-41 advantage at the half as Leonard poured in 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting (including 5 of 6 from 3-point range) and Aldridge added 17 points.
DeRozen led the Raptors with 16 points in the first half while backcourt mate Lowry scored only four in the first 24 minutes.
Whatever fight the Raptors' first-unit players had left in them withered away in the first half of the third quarter. Toronto got to within 14 points on DeRozan's floating jump shot at the 9:16 mark before San Antonio turned up the heat, outscoring the Raptors 26-10 over the remainder of the quarter to run away to an 88-58 advantage heading to the final period.
NOTES: The Spurs set a franchise record for lowest field-goal percentage when they shot 23.9 percent against Toronto on Feb, 7, 2002, in a game that the Raptors won 80-74 in overtime. ... Raptors G Cory Joseph was originally drafted by the Spurs in the first round (29th overall) in the 2011 NBA Draft. He spent four seasons (2011-15) with San Antonio, averaging 5.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 204 games. ... Raptors G DeMar DeRozan scored 30 or more points in a team-high 16 games this season. His career high for games with 30 or more points in a season is 17 (2013-14). ... In 2016, the Spurs claimed the best calendar year record in franchise history by going 66-15. The year for the San Antonio also ranked eighth-best all-time in NBA history.