San Antonio Spurs lose again; Fall short by six against the Denver Nuggets – NBA Recap
It’s hard to imagine, but the San Antonio Spurs have been actually struggling off late. Most of their struggles though have come on the road. On the night they lost their third straight away game against the Denver Nuggets, by
a margin of 112-106.
Danilo Gallinari scored a season-high 28 points, none more important than the six which came in the form of three pointers in the last 5:31 of the game. At both those occasions, the Spurs were within striking distance. They were
so crucial that Gregg Popovich, the Spurs coach who is not known for praising his own players let alone the opposition ones, was left in awe;
"Gallinari just ripped our hearts out with those two 3s. On the one, Boris [Diaw] contested him better than anybody could possibly contest him and he just drilled that sucker. Making shots at the end of the game often wins games
and Gallinari did it."
The Denver win overshadowed a spectacular show by Tim Duncan, the Spurs veteran who crossed the 23,000 point barrier early in the third quarter. Timmy D was just phenomenal on the night, ending it with figures 31 points – a season
high - to go with his 18 rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots.
The Spurs were in command early in the game, but lost track in the second quarter and the early portion of the third. Inside the first five minutes of the third quarter, they were trailing by as many as 17 points, but led by Timmy
D, they dug deep and took the game right down to the wire.
"I couldn't be more proud of the effort," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It's been a tough month-and-a-half. We asked them to dig down deep and they did."
Spurs have now lost 4 of their last 5 games, slipping to 19-8.
Andre Iguodala had a brilliant game, which included few highlight dunks. The guard chipped in with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block. Kenneth Faried posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds while
Corey Brewer added 16 points for the Nuggets, who have now won three in a row.
Tags: