San Antone: Seeking Nine Rings

Dejounte Murray came in clutch for the Spurs tonight. After a close first half exchange, the Spurs ended the third quarter on a 11-3 run to win the scoring battle 28-19, priming themselves for a smooth win through the final quarter with a 73-80 lead. Except the Celtics fired back strongly, still winning the fourth 33-32, for it took everything the Spurs had to win this game. Boston got within five points, and soon enough Kyrie Irving had lifted the Celtics to a five-point lead: 101-98, pulling up at the elbow to silence the crowd. Down under pressure, the Spurs answered the home crowd's wishes, not wanting to see its team lose a third game at home for the season, as the defending champions finished the game on a 10-0 burst. The ugly, unlikely sequence that followed began with 1:50 on the clock, as Irving somehow blocked Dejounte Murray's layup attempt. Kyrie next stripped the ball on a fast-break layup effort by Brandon Ingram, with the ball fortunately falling out of bou

The Nuggets had a shot late, but the rebound led to a slick pass by Brandon Ingram (25 poins, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block) to a streaking JR Smith (16 points), whose sensational dunk across the wing served as an emphatic end to the contest. Patty Mills led the Spurs with 30 points, 8 assists & 4 steals, burying a trio of threes. Skal Labissiere had a reawakening with 16 points. T.J. Warren contributed 14 points with 7 rebounds. In defeat, Will Barton sparked Denver with 36 points (16/22 FG%), and Nikola Jokic hit heavy for 25 points and 13 rebounds with 6 assists. Jamal Murray boosted the Nuggets with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Paul Millsap got a lot of burn, but connected for just 7 points. Psychological advantage may have come through for San Antonio, after the Spurs crushed Denver 48-32 in the second quarter, recovering from a 25-32 start. Denver edged the champs 30-24 in the third, with the Spurs notching 33-31 in the final quarter. The Spurs made 16 three-poi

Avery Bradley put the Spurs on his back tonight. Avery Bradley had a game to remember, scoring a career-high 37 points and duking it out with Jamaal Murray of Denver, also burying seven 3PT shots in a near career milestone, a few coming in the extra OverTime period after a shot went awry by Brandon Ingram, whose performance needed uplifting by Bradley for the Spurs to succeed. Ingram would hit a big 3PTer in his own right to close out the period, redeeming himself and also making two clutch free throws to secure the advantage. The Nuggets would get denied at the rim by Kyle O'Quinn, and T.J. Warren would knock down a three-pointer to ice the outcome, leaping onto the scoreboard table to celebrate with the San Antonio faithful, relishing the moment as the team next travels to Denver for a bitter rematch. Dejounte Murray dished 10 assists in the challenging home victory, with both Bradley and Dragan Bender struggling to stay on the court--Bender had a nice showing, but eventu

The Beard got a great look at a potential game winner, but the ball hit back iron and bounced off the backboard, the buzzer sounding a home defeat for the Houston Rockets, bested by rival foe San Antonio after Brandon Ingram made two clutch free throws. Chris Paul had scored 17 by halftime, finishing with 27 on the night, but it was defense that gave the Spurs separation, a steal here, a dunk in transition on the fast break. STATS T.J. Warren: 24 points, 5 blocks Avery Bradley: 18 points, 3 steals Patty Mills: 17 points Iman Shumpert: 16 points, 4 steals Dragan Bender: 13 points Dejounte Murray: 10 assists Brandon Ingram: 12 points, 5 fouls Chris Paul: 30 points, 11/24 James Harden: 28 points, missed potential GW three-pointer Carmelo Anthony: 17 points Eric Gordon: 11 points Clint Capela: 10 points, 13 rebounds The Spurs did one better than the Rockets, responding to Houston's 8-0 run in the third quarter with a 12-2 run of its own. Shumpert's three-pointe

KAT & Rose left Texas without the 'W' tonight. On the heels of a narrow defeat in Florida, the Spurs protected home court by the skin of their teeth, keeping their loss at home total at two, as the Timberwolves did all they could to make it three. Karl Anthony-Towns had 32 points 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks, with Derrick Rose collecting 27 points on the night with 8 assists. Andrew Wiggins had only 10 points on the game. Jeff Teague had 29 points on the scoring end, but 5 turnovers. Dario Saric dropped 16 for the Wolves. For the Spurs, Brandon Ingram had a chance to win it at the buzzer, as the ball would not go in, so T.J. Warren (21 points, 3 steals, 2 blocks, +19) energized the OverTime starting five, breaking the Spurs out to an early advantage. Shots stopped falling for San Antonio as the extra period trickled down to zero, but Minnesota couldn't muster a necessary comeback in time despite shooting above 70% for the duration of the exciting