Leonard leads ragged Spurs past Atlanta
SAN ANTONIO -- Kawhi Leonard poured in 31 points to lead four teammates in double-figure scoring as the San Antonio Spurs played through a season-high 23 turnovers and defeated the Atlanta Hawks 107-99 on Monday at the AT&T Center.
San Antonio (52-14) moved into a tie with the Golden State Warriors for the best record in the NBA. The Spurs hold the tiebreaker between the two teams if they are knotted at the end of the regular season. San Antonio has won nine of its past 10 games overall and nine in a row at home.
After trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half, Atlanta surged back to close the gap to 86-85 on a dunk by San Antonio native Taurean Prince with 8:08 to play.
The Spurs re-established a 94-87 cushion via 3-pointers by Bryn Forbes and Danny Green and a dunk by Dewayne Dedmon, and San Antonio was too strong in the end game.
Patty Mills added 15 points and nine assists for the Spurs, while David Lee and Green scored 14 points each and Pau Gasol contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Dennis Schroder led the Hawks (37-30) with 22 points and 10 assists, his 10th double-double this season. Tim Hardaway Jr. added 17 points, Paul Millsap scored 16, and Kent Bazemore tallied 15 for Atlanta. The Hawks also got 13 rebounds from Dwight Howard while seeing their three-game winning streak end.
Leonard, who had been going through the NBA's concussion protocol after getting hit in the head on March 9 against Oklahoma City, was cleared to play hours before the game and took little time to get back in the groove. He scored nine points in the first period and keyed a San Antonio run midway through the quarter that turned an 8-2 Atlanta lead into a 17-11 advantage for the Spurs.
San Antonio led 28-18 at the end of the first period while outshooting the Hawks 60 percent to 41.2 percent.
Schroder scored 10 points in the second quarter to help keep Atlanta within arm's reach, but it was actually San Antonio's 14 turnovers in the first half that hurt the Spurs the most and allowed the Hawks to be within 54-43 at intermission.
Leonard scored 19 points in the half, while Schroder led the Hawks with 14 points at halftime.
Atlanta got to within 74-71 on a jumper from Thabo Sefolosha with 1:53 to play in the third quarter. However, the Spurs scored seven of the final nine points of the period, capped by a jumper by Forbes that just beat the buzzer, and San Antonio took an 81-73 lead into the final quarter.
NOTES: The Spurs were without F LaMarcus Aldridge (minor heart arrhythmia), G Dejounte Murray (left groin tightness) and G Tony Parker (back stiffness). ... Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer spent 19 seasons as an assistant coach with San Antonio. ... Atlanta's basketball operations manager, Malik Rose, played for San Antonio from 1997 through part of 2004-05 ... Spurs F Pau Gasol was originally selected by Atlanta (third overall) in the 2001 NBA Draft before his rights were dealt on draft night ... The Spurs have now won 19 straight home games against Atlanta, dating back to a 109-89 loss in 1997 at the Alamodome. ... The Hawks have never won at the AT&T Center, the Spurs' current home. ... The Hawks head home to play Memphis on Thursday, while the Spurs will host Portland on Wednesday.