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First it was the defense. Then is was the San Antonio Spurs bench that propelled them to a win over the Washington Wizards. Once again, the Spurs came out aggressive on both ends of the court, outscoring Washington 25-17 in the first quarter. It's the third game in a row San Antonio has held their opponent to below 18 points in the first quarter.
But the big story of the game, was the impressive run the bench made in the second half. With just under three minutes to go in the third quarter, a Manu Ginobili basket put the Spurs up 62-57, and the floodgates opened. When the stretch ended, it was a 19-2 run entirely scored by the bench. The offense was impressive enough, but the defense by the five man unit of Patty Mills, Ginobili, Marco Belinelli, Jeff Ayres and Boris Diaw absolutely put the clamps down on a Wizards team that had gotten within three points of tying the game.
That run sealed the win for the Spurs, moving them to 8-1 on the season.