San Antonio Spurs defeat New Orleans Hornets despite a valiant effort by rookie Anthony Davis – NBA Recap
Anthony Davis, the 2012 NBA Draft number one pick, made his debut for the New Orleans Hornets in their season opener against the travelling San Antonio Spurs here at the New Orleans Arena. And the number one pick did not disappoint, scoring 21 points and 7 rebounds in his debut. However, his heroics were not enough to prevent his team from falling to the charging Spurs, who defeated them 99-95 on the back of a memorable performance by Tim Duncan. Duncan looked in prime form as he scored 24 points and 11 rebounds, while going 10 of 15 from the field.
The Spurs got into the act early on, and a layup by Tony Parker followed by a dunk from Duncan had them leading 12-6. Kawhi Leonard then scored a three to extend the Spurs lead to 15-8. Al-Farouq Aminu replied for the Hornets with back to back field goals, reducing the Hornets deficit to 12-15. Greivis Vasquez then tied the game at 21 with a pull up jump shot, and the Hornets took the lead through two free throws by Jason Smith. The Hornets led 31-28 at the end of a high scoring first period.
Darius Miller hit a clutch three pointer in the second period to put the Hornets up 40-33, who had been leading all through the second period till that point. After Parker hit a layup, the Hornets scored six straight points and extended their lead to 46-35 as they seemed to be gaining momentum and feeding from the energy of a charged up home crowd. A jump shot by Davis near the end of the period put the Hornets up 50-40, but Matt Bonner hit a three pointer that beat the buzzer to have the Spurs trailing 43-50 going into the halftime break.
Back to back layups by Duncan in the opening minutes of the third period had the Spurs trailing the Hornets by only two points, and two free throws by Leonard gave them a 55-54 lead for the first time since the 1st period. Leonard followed with a three pointer and two more free throws to cap off a personal 7-0 run that put the Spurs up 60-54 and changed the momentum of the game. Leonard scored the next four points for the Spurs as well, but the Hornets replied with a 7-0 run to move within two points of the Spurs with a little over three minutes left in the period. Two free throws by Austin Rivers in the final seconds of the game tied the game at 71.
Both teams battled for the lead in the opening minutes of the final period, and a three point shot by Danny Green put the Spurs up 80-78. Rivers immediately replied with a layup to tie the game at 80 and Roger Mason Jr. then hit a three pointer to give the Hornets a three point lead. Leonard tied the game again with a three of his own and the game looked like it was going to go down to the wire. After Parker hit a floating jump shot to give the Spurs a two point lead, Aminu scored four straight points and Davis followed with two free throws as the Hornets picked up a 91-87 advantage with 2:42 left in regulation. Duncan then stepped in for the Spurs and scored the team's next seven points to give them a 94-93 lead. Davis then scored two more free throws and the lead was back with the Hornets. Parker then hot a clutch three point shot to put the Spurs up 97-95 with less than a minute to play, and Vasquez missed his three point attempt to give the Spurs the 99-95 victory in the end.
Aminu finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds, while Smith had 12 points and 6 rebounds for the Hornets. Tony Parker had 23 points and 6 assists on the night, where as Kawhi Leonard finished with 19 points and 7 rebounds for the night. Both teams were pretty much tied in all departments, and it took the heroics of Parker to eventually put the Hornets away.
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