LOS ANGELES, USA - Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points and led 5 San Antonio players in double figures on Tuesday as the Spurs turned a tight NBA game into a 108-87 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers.
San Antonio led by just one point going into the fourth quarter, but pulled away relentlessly to notch their 33rd home win of the season and their 42nd straight regular-season victory on their home court in a streak dating back to last March.
The Spurs, second to the streaking Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference, improved to 57-10.
The Spurs' home streak is the third-longest in NBA history, behind Chicago's 44-game regular-season run in 1995-96 and the continuing streak by Golden State that now stands at 49 games.
"It is amazing, and not even just the home records," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said before the game of the Warriors and Spurs. "Just their records. I think we're all focused on their home records, which, they are amazing.
"But when you think about both of their records in general, it's amazing."
The Clippers looked far from intimidated, however, as they built an early 10-6 lead and led 21-19 at the end of the first.
San Antonio's bench put together a 13-1 scoring run that pushed the Spurs ahead in the second and San Antonio took a 48-44 lead into halftime.
The third quarter was a back and forth battle, the Clippers re-taking the lead for the first time since the first quarter before the Spurs regained the advantage with a jump shot from the baseline by Kyle Anderson as the period ended.
The Spurs took a 71-70 lead into the fourth and pulled away from there.
Overall the Spurs reserves out-scored the Clippers bench 51-20.
Backup David West had all 8 of his points in the fourth-quarter, and Australian Patty Mills came off the bench to score seven of his 15 in the final frame.
Mills said it was a matter of "wearing them down throughout the game and understanding that if we stick to the game plan, eventually they'll get tired."– Rappler.com