Category: San Antonio Spurs Blog

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Spurs recall Nando De Colo from D-League again

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have recalled guard Nando De Colo from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

Assigned on Friday, De Colo finished with 15 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals in 34 minutes against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

In two games with the Toros this season, he is averaging 14.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.00 steals in 36.5 minutes.

De Colo has appeared in 30 games this season for the Spurs, averaging 3.9 points, 1.7 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 11.9 minutes.

Knicks end Spurs 7-game winning streak in romp

carmelo anthony

Sometime between Stephen Jackson’s sideline stumble and J.R. Smith’s soaring slam, the San Antonio Spurs realized this wasn’t their night.

Too much fatigue and way too much Knicks defense.

Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points, Smith kept up his surge with 20 and New York snapped San Antonio’s seven-game winning streak with a 100-83 victory Thursday night.

Steve Novak added 15 points and Tyson Chandler had 10 points and 14 rebounds to help the Knicks bounce back from consecutive losses by dominating the final period against the Spurs, who appeared to run out of gas in their second game in two nights.

”They shot the hell out of it and I could see it wasn’t going to happen,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. ”Just too low on fuel and their defense was too good. Bad combination, and then they made shots, which makes it even worse.”

Tim Duncan and Tony Parker each had just 11 points for the Spurs, who lost Jackson to an unusual injury, then lost what had been the NBA’s longest winning streak.

Jackson played just three minutes off the bench before spraining his right ankle when he took a shot then fell back into a waitress working the sideline in front of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Smith, who had scored 25 points in his last four games as a reserve, highlighted his outing with an acrobatic dunk in the fourth quarter that brought fans to their feet. The lobbed pass came from reserve point guard Pablo Prigioni, who had one of his most complete games since coming to the NBA at age 35, finishing with six points and nine assists.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Spurs beat Bucks for seventh straight victory

Tim Duncan

After a 69-point outburst in the first half, it would have been easy for the San Antonio Spurs to believe they were going to capture their seventh consecutive win with little resistance.

Instead, the Spurs had to withstand a pair of second half rallies from the Milwaukee Bucks to hang on for a 117-110 victory Wednesday night.

”We knew they were going to make a run at some point,” said San Antonio forward Tim Duncan, who had 28 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. ”They made a run there at the end. They are very good in this building and we knew that. They’ve come back on a lot of people here.” …

”We were in a good groove but in the second half (Milwaukee) played hard,” said Tony Parker, who added 23 points and 11 assists for the Spurs, who shot 52 percent from the field for the game. ”They played with a lot of energy and came back on us. They played very physical.”

Brandon Jennings paced Milwaukee with 31 points. Henson scored a career-high 20 points and added nine rebounds. Mike Dunleavy had 19 points…

Spurs guard Gary Neal returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing four consecutive games with a strained right calf. ”He’s a dangerous player. I’m really happy for him because he finally has an NBA career,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said of Neal, who played four seasons overseas before joining the Spurs in 2010.

— Reported by Rich Rovito of the Associated Press

Spurs beat Nets, who scored just 5 third quarter points

Tony Parker

The Brooklyn Nets ended 2012 a few hours earlier than most.

Tony Parker had 20 points and the San Antonio Spurs held the Nets to only five points in the third quarter en route to a 104-73 win Monday night.

MarShon Brooks had a season-high 16 points to lead Brooklyn (16-15), which suffered its first loss under interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo. Joe Johnson added 12 points and Brook Lopez had 11, but Deron Williams was held to eight points and one assist.

San Antonio set a franchise low for fewest points by an opponent in the third quarter when it held the Nets to 10-percent shooting (2 for 20).

”I’m actually surprised it wasn’t worse,” Carlesimo said.

Tim Duncan added 15 points and Nando DeColo had 11, while Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter and Matt Bonner chipped in 10 apiece for San Antonio (25-8), which won its sixth straight…

Spurs G Gary Neal (strained right calf) missed his fourth straight game and sixth this season. . Brooklyn F Gerald Wallace (bruised left knee) missed his eighth game of the season. . Johnson, Andray Blatche and C.J. Watson are the only Nets to play in every game this season. Johnson has started each of those games. . The fewest points an opponent has scored in any quarter is three by Denver during the opening period on Nov. 27, 2002.

— Reported by Raul Dominguez of the Associated Press

Spurs send Mavs to sixth straight loss

Tony Parker

Dirk Nowitzki grabbed a loose ball in the backcourt and started the fast break himself, pulling up for a 3-pointer just like the days before his first knee surgery.

The difference this time: The Dallas Mavericks star threw up an airball.

Nowitzki will need more time to work his way back from a surgery that cost him the first 27 games of the season. Even then, it may not be enough to keep up with the San Antonio Spurs and their Big Three.

Tony Parker had 21 points and nine assists, Manu Ginobili had several key baskets among his 20 points and the Spurs handed the Mavericks their sixth straight loss, 111-86 on Sunday night.

Two nights after his second 30-point game of the season, Tim Duncan had 10 in the second quarter before settling in for a more typical outing: 18 points and 10 rebounds for his 16th double-double to go with three blocks…

Nowitzki followed his first-half airball by missing three more in the second half before finally getting a basket on a driving layup. He finished with eight points on 3-of-9 shooting – and didn’t come close to trying another 3-pointer. He did have five rebounds and three blocked shots…

Darren Collison scored 18 points to lead the Mavericks, whose losing streak is their longest since January of their championship season in 2010-11…

O.J. Mayo, Dallas’ leading scorer, was held under 10 points for the third time in four games. He came in averaging 9 points on 33-percent shooting the previous four games and finished with eight on 4 of 14 shooting…

Mavericks F Vince Carter made his first start after coming off the bench the first 30 games.

— Reported by Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press

Spurs quotes after beating Mavs 129-91

SPURS HEAD COACH GREGG POPOVICH: (When asked how different the Spurs are when Kawhi Leonard is playing…): “Well, we’re trying to make him a defender, a top notch defender that can become ‘All League’ kind of defender like Bruce (Bowen) was.  I think he has got the mentality for it, the intelligence for it.  He just needs the experience.  So we will see how it goes but in that regard he’s doing a good job.  Chip Engelland has done wonders with his shot.  Chad Forcier has been working on his mid-range game.  He’s coming along.  He’s been sitting for a long time.  This is only his second game back.  He’s sort of like a rookie starting over again.  We are happy to see him making the steals that he did and knocking down some shots.”

SPURS GUARD TONY PARKER: (On the record setting three-point shooting from the Spurs…) “It was great ball movement. We shot the ball very well. It was just one of those games where everything we did worked. We will see next week. It is tough to beat a team like that and then we play them next week.”

SPURS GUARD TONY PARKER: (On having Kawhi Leonard back in the rotation…) “It is great. It’s huge. He is a big part of what we do. He played great tonight. He was everywhere. We missed him on the road. Everybody stepped up but after a while it was tough and it showed that we were missing Kawhi.”

SPURS GUARD DANNY GREEEN: (On his hot shooting night…) “Luckily it felt good tonight. Some nights you have it and some nights you don’t. Good thing we had it tonight. Not just myself, but everybody else on the team also stepped up and knocked down some shots. It helped us open up the lead a little bit.”

SPURS GUARD DANNY GREEEN: (On Kawhi Leonard’s impressive defensive performance…) “Kawhi gets in the lanes. He’s got the long arms and big hands. He got a lot of deflections and a lot of hands on balls. He got some fast break dunks for us which opened it up for us a little bit.”

MAVERICKS GUARD DARREN COLLISON: “They (San Antonio) shot lights out. That’s Spurs basketball. We know what they’re about. We just didn’t have our rotations down pat. We’ll work at it.”

Tim Duncan joins rarefied air at 23,000 points

Tim Duncan joins rarefied air at 23,000 points

The milestone came without fanfare, befitting the low-key superstar who accomplished it.

With a pair of free throws at the 9:15 mark of the third quarter of the Spurs’ loss at Denver on Tuesday, Tim Duncan became the 26th NBA player to reach 23,000 points.

Needing 15 points to hit that plateau, Duncan didn’t stop there. He left the Pepsi Center with his season’s most power-packed box score: 31 points, 18 rebounds, six assists and five blocks.

It was another turn-back-the-clock night in a season full of them for the Spurs’ 36-year-old metronome…

He is one of only six active players to make this list.

— Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News

Spurs recall Kawhi Leonard from D-League

Spurs recall Kawhi Leonard from D-League

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have recalled Kawhi Leonard from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.

The forward, who has been sidelined with quadriceps tendinitis, left knee since Nov. 17,  was sent to the Toros for a medical rehab assignment on Wednesday.

Prior to the injury, Leonard appeared in nine games for the Silver and Black, averaging 10.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.00 steals in 28.9 minutes.

Spurs assign Kawhi Leonard to D-League for medical rehab

Kawhi Leonard

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have assigned Kawhi Leonard to the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League for a medical rehab assignment. Leonard has been sidelined with quadriceps tendinitis, left knee since Nov. 17.

Prior to the injury, Leonard appeared in nine games for the Silver and Black, averaging 10.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.00 steals in 28.9 minutes.

Leonard will practice with the Toros today and then be re-evaluated by team doctors. At that point, a timeline for his return will be determined.