San Antonio Spurs Blog – Page 21 – NBA Blog

No Team USA for Kawhi Leonard this summer

San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard today announced that he has withdrawn his name from consideration for the 2016 USA Basketball Men’s National Team.

“This was a very difficult decision. It’s an honor to have been considered for the team and I hope that in the future I will have the chance to represent my country by playing for USA Basketball.”

Leonard, the 2015 and 2016 Defensive Player of the Year, was a 2016 All-NBA First Team selection. In his first All-Star season, the fifth-year forward averaged a career-high 21.2 points to go along with 6.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.78 steals in 33.1 minutes while shooting .506 (551-1,090) from the floor, a personal-best .443 (129-291) from beyond the arc and .874 (292-334) from the free throw line.

R.C. Buford wins 2015-16 NBA Executive of Year award

San Antonio Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford has been named the 2015-16 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year, the NBA announced today. Buford, in his 14th season as the team’s general manager, previously won the award in 2013-14.

Buford totaled 77 points and received nine of 29 first-place votes from a panel of fellow team basketball executives throughout the NBA.

The Portland Trail Blazers’ Neil Olshey finished second with 63 points (10 first-place votes), and 2014-15 winner Bob Myers of the Golden State Warriors was third with 38 points (five first-place votes). Executives were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

Buford assembled a roster that produced the best record in franchise history (67-15). The Spurs won at least 50 games for the 17th consecutive season and captured their fifth Southwest Division title in the past six years. San Antonio finished the regular season 40-1 at home, matching the NBA record set by the 1985-86 Boston Celtics.

Fueled by two-time reigning Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio led the NBA in points allowed (92.9 ppg) and defensive rating (96.6 points per 100 possessions). Leonard, acquired by San Antonio on draft night in 2011, also averaged a career-high 21.2 points, ranked third in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage (44.3) and earned his first All-Star selection. He re-signed with the Spurs last July, just as Tim Duncan, Danny Green and Manu Ginobili did.

Also in July, San Antonio’s salary-cap management enabled Buford and Head Coach/President Gregg Popovich to sign free agent LaMarcus Aldridge to a team that went 55-27 in the 2014-15 season. Aldridge averaged 18.0 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds and shot a career-high 51.3 percent from the field in his first season with the Spurs, earning his fifth consecutive All-Star selection.

San Antonio’s moves for this season also included signing two-time All-Star David West, three-time Serbian Super League MVP Boban Marjanovic and undrafted rookie Jonathon Simmons, who was the MVP of the championship game at Samsung NBA Summer League 2015. All three players, along with 2014 first-round pick Kyle Anderson, contributed to the Spurs’ bench, which led the NBA in net rating (outscoring opponents by 10.9 points per 100 possessions) and ranked third in scoring (39.2 ppg).

Matt Barnes says Grizzlies need to change gameplan

The Grizzlies are without several of their best players, and in big trouble in their first-round NBA playoff series against the mighty Spurs. Here’s the Memphis Commercial Appeal reporting:

After the Grizzlies scored their fewest points in the postseason during their 94-68 Game 2 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, journeyman forward Matt Barnes had a suggestion or two or 10.

“We’ve got to roll the dice a little bit. We’ve got to play small, play fast. We’re coming to a gunfight with some spoons,” Barnes said. “We’ve got to do something to try to switch this up at home next game. It’s very frustrating.”

Memphis is 0-16 all-time when scoring 86 points or less in the postseason. San Antonio is responsible for six of those losses.

“You can credit their defense a little bit,” Barnes said, “but you’ve got to put the onus on us to make shots.”

Indeed.

Kawhi Leonard wins 2015-2016 NBA Defensive Player of Year award

The San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard, who helped the team finish with the NBA’s top defense this season, is the recipient of the 2015-16 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today. Leonard, a 6-7 forward, becomes the first non-center to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons since Dennis Rodman in 1989-90 and 1990-91.

Leonard received 84 first-place votes and 547 total points from a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. He edged the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green, who tallied 44 first-place votes and 421 points to finish as runner-up for the second season in a row. The Miami Heat’s Hassan Whiteside was third with 83 points (two first-place votes). Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

A first-time NBA All-Star this season, Leonard contributed to a San Antonio defense that led the NBA in points allowed (92.9 ppg) and defensive rating (96.6 points per 100 possessions). The Spurs, a franchise-record 67-15 this season, were even stingier on defense with Leonard in the game: According to NBA.com/Stats, they had a defensive rating of 94.9 when the five-year veteran was on the court and 99.2 when he wasn’t – a difference of 4.3 points per 100 possessions. Leonard also averaged 1.78 steals (12th in the NBA), 5.5 defensive rebounds and a career-high 0.99 blocks to go with career highs on offense of 21.2 points and 2.6 assists.

Spurs set NBA record for home wins

The Spurs have set an NBA record with 39 consecutive home wins to start a season, leaving them two victories from the first perfect home regular-season record in league history. San Antonio’s final two home games are Sunday against the Warriors and Tuesday, April 12 against Oklahoma City (8 p.m. ET, TNT). Overall, the Spurs have won 48 straight home regular-season games, the second-longest streak in NBA history behind 54 games by the Warriors, whose run ended with a loss to Boston on April 1. The Spurs’ last regular-season home loss was March 12, 2015, a 128-125 overtime defeat to the Cavaliers in which Cleveland guard Kyrie Irving scored 57 points, an NBA high for the 2014-15 season.

Spurs set an NBA record for home wins

With their win on Wednesday over the Pelicans, the Spurs set the NBA record for most consecutive home victories (38) to open a season. San Antonio also tied the franchise record for wins in a season with 63, set in 2005-06. For Tim Duncan, it was his 998th win as a member of the Spurs dating back to 1997. Duncan is poised to join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,074) and Robert Parish (1,014) as the only players in history with 1,000 victories. Duncan holds the record for most victories with one team, ahead of John Stockton, who won 953 games with the Jazz. The Spurs host the Raptors on Saturday before embarking on a three-game road trip against the Jazz, Warriors and Nuggets.

— NBA News

Spurs beat Warriors, still undefeated at home

LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors 87-79 on Saturday night to remain perfect at the AT&T Center this season and extend their home dominance over the defending champions to 33 straight regular-season games.

Kawhi Leonard added 18 points and 14 rebounds for San Antonio, which has won 44 straight at home in the regular season, tied for the second-longest streak in NBA history.

The Spurs held Warriors superstar Stephen Curry to 14 points while limiting him to 1-for-12 shooting on 3-pointers.

— AP

Spurs keep winning at home, beat Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday became the latest victim of San Antonio’s AT&T Center.

With a little shooting from forward LaMarcus Aldridge, a lot of passing from guard Tony Parker and a host of contributions up and down the roster, the Spurs beat the Blazers 118-110, sweeping the three-game season series.

San Antonio (58-10) won its 43rd consecutive game at AT&T Center, improving to a perfect 34-0 at home this season.

Aldridge finished with 22 points and six rebounds, Parker recorded 18 points and 16 assists and Kawhi Leonard added 22 points and three blocks for the balanced Spurs, who received scoring from 10 players.

— Oregonian

On the Warriors and Spurs

In the NBA’s Western Conference race, the Golden State Warriors (59-6) lead the San Antonio Spurs (56-10) by 3.5 games for the No. 1 seed. The NBA’s top two teams, both unbeaten at home and newly crowned division champions, play three more times in the regular season, starting in San Antonio on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC. The Warriors have lost 32 consecutive regular-season games at San Antonio, their last victory coming Feb. 14, 1997. (The Warriors did win at San Antonio during the 2013 playoffs.) The Spurs and Warriors also meet Thursday, April 7 at Golden State (10:30 p.m., TNT) and Sunday, April 10 at San Antonio (7 p.m., NBA TV).

Spurs sign Kevin Martin

The San Antonio Spurs signed scoring guard Kevin Martin today. This moves comes just after waiving veteran Rasual Butler.

Martin, 6-7/200, began the season with the Timberwolves and averaged 10.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.4 minutes over 39 games. He was in his third season with Minnesota before being waived on March 1.

Even though they’re very different than the Timberwolves, San Antonio will likely use Martin in similar fashion: as scoring punch in limited munutes off the bench.

The former Western Carolina guard was drafted by Sacramento in the first round of the 2004 NBA Draft (26th overall) and played part of six seasons with the Kings before being traded to Houston in 2010. After two-plus years with the Rockets, Martin was dealt to Oklahoma City where he spent the 2012-13 season before being sent to Minnesota the following summer. Martin holds career averages of 17.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting .438 from the floor, .385 from three-point range and .870 from the free throw line in 698 career appearances.

Martin is one of just five active players with over 1,000 three-pointers while shooting at least 38.0 percent from beyond the arc for their career, along with Stephen Curry, Kyle Korver, Mike Miller and Dirk Nowitzki.

Martin will wear No. 23 for the Spurs.