Field Level Media
Aug 23, 2012
D'Angelo Russell scored 23 points Monday night and the Brooklyn Nets led most of the way and cruised to a 101-85 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, who ended their eight-game road trip with a 1-7 record.
Russell made 9 of 19 field-goal attempts and scored at least 20 points for the 34th time this season. He added eight assists and seven rebounds after matching a career high Saturday with 40 points in a win at Charlotte.
Caris LeVert added 15 points and Joe Harris contributed 15 by hitting five of Brooklyn's 19 3-pointers. The Nets shot 43.2 percent from the floor, hit 38 percent of their 3-point tries and won for the 15th time in their past 19 home games.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points for the Spurs, who shot 36.5 percent from the field and set a season low for points. DeMar DeRozan added 23 for San Antonio, which missed 20 of 24 3-point attempts and received little else from the other three starters (Davis Bertans, Derrick White and Bryn Forbes), who combined for 15 points on 6-of-29 shooting from the field.
The Nets led for the final 44 1/2 minutes and gradually pulled away. They were on top by double digits for the final 25:33 and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Spurs.
San Antonio finished its 8,424-mile trek with a second straight double-digit loss. Six of the seven losses were by double digits.
LeVert scored 12 consecutive Brooklyn points during a 15-4 run over the last 3:42 of the second quarter as the Nets seized a 52-38 lead by halftime. Harris and Treveon Graham hit 3-pointers in the opening minute of the third and Brooklyn pushed the advantage to 58-42.
The Nets opened a 72-51 lead on a 3-pointer by Russell with 6:19 left in the third and took an 81-59 lead into the fourth quarter.
San Antonio went on a 13-2 run to cut the deficit to 93-81 on a short jumper by DeRozan with 4:11 remaining. However, less than a minute later, LeVert knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and following a timeout, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich pulled DeRozan and Aldridge.
--Field Level Media