Aldridge, Parker pace Spurs in rout of Nuggets
DENVER -- LaMarcus Aldridge scored 28 points, Tony Parker had 21 points and nine assists and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets 127-99 on Thursday night.
Kawhi Leonard scored 24 for the Spurs, who led by as many as 31 points in the easy win.
San Antonio (29-7) is a month away from its longest road trip of the season when the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo takes over the AT&T Center. The annual rodeo road trip should be grueling but this year it could be better than playing at home.
The Spurs improved to 17-3 on the road, which is markedly better than their home record (12-4).
The Nuggets continued their struggles at Pepsi Center where they are now 7-11. They had won four of five at home before losing three straight and four in a row overall.
They had no answer for San Antonio's big three, which dominated Denver's lineup. Nikola Jokic had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Danilo Gallinari scored 15 for the Nuggets.
Denver (14-22) has allowed an average of 124.5 points during its losing streak and has given up at least 120 in all four games.
The Spurs attempted their first free throw with 5:57 left in second quarter, their only one in the first half. They didn't need to get to the line after shooting 56.8 percent in the first 24 minutes.
Aldridge had 15 points as San Antonio took a 58-53 lead at the break.
San Antonio expanded its lead to 12 midway through the third and went on a run to put Denver in a hole it couldn't recover from.
Parker hit two shots to start the push before Aldridge took over. He scored all 11 of his points in the period in the last 5:18 to help the Spurs stretch the advantage to 90-72.
Denver pulled within 13 at the start of the fourth but San Antonio scored the first six points, the last on a 3-pointer by Manu Ginobili, to make it 96-77.
Leonard's baseline drive and dunk made it 110-90.
NOTES: Nuggets F Kenneth Faried missed his third straight game with lower back pain. He is still considered day-to-day. ... Spurs coach Gregg Popovich praised the addition of Pau Gasol, who entered Thursday first on the team in rebounding and third in scoring. "He's a smart player," Popovich said. "Every coach likes to add smart players to the mix." ... Nuggets coach Michael Malone said he apologized to his team for his postgame comments Tuesday in which he questioned the leadership of the veterans. "I apologized to our veterans," he said. "Anything that's going on within our locker room should be left in the locker room. I failed in that regard the other night." ... The Spurs had everyone healthy for Thursday's game.