Spurs Snap Nuggets 3-Game Win Streak

SAN ANTONIO (The Sports Xchange) - Kawhi Leonard, who earlier in the evening was announced as a starter for in the NBA All-Star game, scored 34 points and rookie Dejounte Murray added a career-high 24 as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Denver Nuggets 118-104 on Thursday at the AT&T Center.

Despite Leonard's continued heroics -- it was his fifth straight game with at least 30 points -- and the impressive relief performance by the rookie Murray, not all was rosy for the Spurs.

Thirty minutes before tipoff, the Spurs announced that point guard Tony Parker would miss the game because of left foot pain. And it got worse when center Pau Gasol broke the fourth metacarpal (ring finger) on his left hand in the layup line during pregame practice, went straight to the San Antonio locker room and did not return.

Also in pregame, Denver ruled out forward Danilo Gallinari, its leading scorer at 16.9 points per game, with a right ankle sprain. Guard Gary Harris (right ankle sprain, 12.3 points) and forward Wilson Chandler (16.1 points, personal reasons) were also out, meaning the Nuggets were without three players who average at least 12.3 points.

David Lee added 10 points and a season-high 16 rebounds for San Antonio (33-9), which won for the sixth time in eight games. The Spurs also got 14 points from Manu Ginobili and 10 points from LaMarcus Aldridge, who added six assists.

Denver (17-24) was led by Nikola Jokic's career-high 35 points and 12 rebounds while Will Barton added 18 points, Jamal Murray scored 13 and Emmanuel Mudiay hit for 12 for the Nuggets, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Without two of its starters, the Spurs struggled to find their stride in the early going before a 7-0 run, with Dejounte Murray scoring five of those points, pushed San Antonio to a 22-16 lead with 1:35 to play in the first quarter. Nelson's 35-foot 3-pointer at the 43.5 second mark of the period brought the Nuggets back to within 24-23, but the Spurs expanded the lead to five points down the stretch and owned a 28-23 advantage after 12 minutes of play.

Jamal Murray hit the Nuggets' first eight points of the second quarter in leading Denver on an 8-2 run that allowed it to leapfrog the Spurs and take a 31-30 lead.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was ejected from the game after arguing a foul call with 1:36 to play in the second quarter and the game tied at 51. It was his first ejection of the season.

San Antonio led 59-58 at the half as Leonard scored 13 points and Dejounte Murray added 10. Jokic led all scorers at intermission with 17 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the floor while Jamal Murray added 11 points off the bench and Barton hit for 10.

The Spurs, with all five of the players who made up their first unit in this game scoring, opened the second half with a 15-0 run by making six of their first eight shots over the initial 4:20 of the third quarter and turned a close game into a runaway.

The gap would have even bigger if not for Jokic's two determined baskets after offensive rebounds, but even that effort only postponed San Antonio's surge as the Spurs led 92-81 at the end of the period.

NOTES: F Kawhi Leonard's selection as an All-Star starter in back-to-back seasons makes him the fifth Spurs player in franchise history to be selected more than once, joining George Gervin, Alvin Robertson, David Robinson and Tim Duncan. ... The Spurs have now been represented by a player in 38 of the 40 All-Star Games since San Antonio joined the NBA in 1976, the most of any team. ... San Antonio heads to the road for its next three games, including on Saturday in Cleveland in the highly anticipated first meeting of the year with the Cavaliers. ... The Nuggets head home to host the Los Angeles Clippers, also on Saturday.