Tim Duncan, Patty Mills take San Antonio Spurs to a 97-86 win over Sacramento Kings – NBA Recap
A night after suffering their first loss of the season, the San Antonio Spurs, led by a 23-point, 12-rebound double-double from Tim Duncan and 18 points from reserve point guard Patty Mills, dropped the Sacramento kings 97-86.
With DeMarcus Cousins having early foul trouble, the Kings were paced by 17 points from Marcus Thornton and Jason Thompson. They kept the matter close till the third quarter, finishing it one point short at 68-69, but the clinical
Spurs pulled away in the deciding quarter. They started off by making their first three shots, and then with the scores at 81-77 and 4:01 left to play, they pulled off a 12-4 burst, capped by a reverse layup by Patty Mills, to take an unassailable 95-83 lead.
Thomas knocked down a three, 17 seconds later, but with just a tad above one minute remaining in the game, the Spurs win was assured.
The Kings were huge in the first quarter. After going down 0-4 early, they found their range and were leading by 13-8 inside the first five minutes of the frame. Spurs were not far off though and a 7-2 run late in the period tied
it at 22. Thornton scored five consecutive points in the passage that followed, before Gary Neal made a jumper to make it 24-27.
After a hot first quarter, the Kings lost momentum in the second, in which when they tossed up just 12 points on a 6-for-24 shooting. The Spurs took advantage and outscored the Kings 23-12 to muster up a 47-39 lead at the half.
Spurs maintained their dominance early in the second half, and were boosted when Cousins went on the bench after committing his fourth personal foul. The Kings however chalked out a 15-4 spurt in his absence and took a 60-59 lead.
The Spurs nipped the Kings’ momentum then and there and outsmarted the hosts in the last 12 minutes to hold on to their fifth win of the season.
After a dreadful night against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Spurs again committed 20 turnovers. However, they just overwhelmed the Kings with their shooting. Spurs made nearly 49 percents of their field shots while the Kings made
35.2 percent on the night and were 3 for 16 from the three point range.
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