The Sports Xchange
Dec 28, 2017
SAN ANTONIO -- LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game-high 25 points and Pau Gasol added 17 points and 11 rebounds to rack up his fourth straight double-double as the San Antonio Spurs rolled past the New York Knicks 119-107 on Thursday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
All five starters scored in double figures for San Antonio (25-11), which won for its third straight game and sixth in its past seven outings. Kyle Anderson, who started in favor of Kawhi Leonard, scored 16 points.
Danny Green and Tony Parker hit for 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Spurs. Bryn Forbes added 10 points off the San Antonio bench.
Michael Beasley paced New York with 23 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Kristaps Porzingis (who fouled out with 2:30 to play) and Courtney Lee tallied 18 points apiece, while Enes Kanter scored 12 points and Frank Ntilikina recorded a career-high 11 assists for the Knicks (17-18), who lost for the fourth straight game.
New York's reserves outscored the Spurs' bench 51-32 to help keep the game close but San Antonio made more free throws (28 of 39) than the Knicks attempted (20 of 22).
The Spurs led by as many as 11 points in the first half and settled for a 54-53 advantage at halftime on the strength of Parker's 14 points, 11 from Gasol and 10 from Aldridge.
The Knicks were behind from the opening tip, surrendering the game's first eight points. New York got 10 points apiece from Kanter and Porzingis over the first 24 minutes.
Gasol's 3-pointer at the 2:05 mark of the third quarter staked the Spurs to an 84-71 lead, but New York refused to buckle, fighting back to within 86-79 at the end of the quarter on two baskets by Kyle O'Quinn and a layup by Beasley.
NOTES: San Antonio announced about 45 minutes prior to tip-off that F Kawhi Leonard would not play Thursday as part of his injury management program. Leonard, who has played in only five of the Spurs' 36 games because of a quad injury, scored a season-high 21 points in a season-most 26 minutes Tuesday in the Spurs' 109-97 win over Brooklyn. ... The Knicks played without G Tim Hardaway Jr., who has a stress injury to his lower left leg and could miss a few games. ... New York reserve Cs Joakim Noah and Willy Hernangomez were active for the game but neither saw any action. Hernangomez, who was on the all-rookie team last season, has not played in 11 of the past 12 games.