Field Level Media
Jan 31, 2019
Derrick White scored a career-high 26 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge racked up five of his 20 points in the final 51 seconds as the San Antonio Spurs won their fourth straight game, outlasting the visiting Brooklyn Nets 117-114 on Thursday.
White's two free throws with 2:07 to play gave the Spurs a 110-109 lead in the back-and-forth game. DeMar DeRozan's jumper in the lane push San Antonio's lead to three with 1:29 left.
D'Angelo Russell's driving layup with 1:20 to play cut the lead to 112-111 before Aldridge's layup and free throw made it 115-111.
Shabazz Napier canned a 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds remaining to bring Brooklyn to within 115-114.
Aldridge hit two free throws with 3.6 seconds left to push the lead back to three points. While being guarded by Aldridge and DeRozan just outside the arc, Napier missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have tied the game.
Patty Mills scored 17 points off the bench for the Spurs, while Rudy Gay and DeRozan added 15 points each and Bryn Forbes tallied 11, all in the second half, for San Antonio. Aldridge also took 13 rebounds in the win, six of them on the offensive glass.
DeRozan returned to the lineup after missing three games with a sore left knee.
Russell led the Nets with 25 points. DeMarre Carroll and Joe Harris added 18 apiece for Brooklyn, with Napier scoring 15 and Jarrett Allen contributing 14 points. Ed Davis and Rodions Kurucs pulled down 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
San Antonio led by as many as 12 points in the first half before settling for a 52-51 advantage at intermission.
Brooklyn surged to an 89-85 lead after three quarters, ending the period on an 8-3 run capped by a free throw by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with 48.5 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Earlier on Thursday, Aldridge was selected by the Western Conference's head coaches as a reserve in the 2019 NBA All-Star Game. It will be his seventh-career NBA All-Star appearance and his third as a member of the Spurs.
--Field Level Media