The Sports Xchange
Nov 25, 2017
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Pau Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 17 points each, and the San Antonio Spurs turned to defense to beat the cold-shooting Charlotte Hornets 106-86 on Saturday night at the Spectrum Center.
The Spurs (12-7) led by 11 points at halftime and pushed the lead up to as many as 20 several times in the fourth quarter, completing a two-game season's sweep of the Hornets.
They held the Hornets to 29 first-half points and 22.2 percent shooting from the field in the half, on 10 of 45. Charlotte started shooting better late in the game and wound up at 36.9 percent from the field (31 of 84) and 16 percent from 3-point range (4 of 25).
The Spurs also got 15 points from Rudy Gay, 14 from Kyle Anderson, 11 from Manu Ginobili and 10 from Patty Mills.
The Hornets (8-11) have now lost eight of their last 11.
Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 18 points despite missing about five minutes in the third quarter with a bruised left shoulder.
The Hornets also got 12 points each from Frank Kaminsky and Jeremy Lamb, and 10 points and 11 rebounds from Dwight Howard.
Charlotte led 15-14 after one quarter. The Spurs led 40-29 at halftime and 72-58 after three quarters.
NOTES: This was the second and final matchup between the teams this season. The Spurs won the first game 108-101 in San Antonio on Nov. 3. ... The Spurs were without F Kawhi Leonard (right quadriceps tendinopathy), G Tony Parker (left quadriceps tendon surgery) and G Derrick White (right wrist fracture). ... The Hornets were without G Julyan Stone (strained left hamstring). ... The Hornets were playing their third back-to-back of the season. They lost at Cleveland 100-99 on Friday night. ... The Hornets wore their purple uniforms for the first time this season. ... The Hornets came into the game with 163 more free-throw attempts than their opponents. That's more than 10 per game, and it leads the NBA. ... The Hornets will be off until Wednesday, when they will play at Toronto. ... The Spurs were playing the second game of a brief two-game trip that started with a 107-90 loss at New Orleans on Thursday. They will return home to face Dallas on Monday.