Final Score: Spurs execute late, win 121-112

PThe Spurs didn't play very good defense in the first half, and Orlando shot the ball particularly well and took a two point lead into the half. It's not good when you let a team score 61 on you in your own building.

Orlando came out to play tonight, give them credit. It took the Spurs 45 minutes to finish off the Magic. Every time the Spurs looked like they were going to pull away, the Magic hung in there and the Spurs weren't able to push the lead to double-digits until early in the fourth on a Tiago Splitter 7-0 scoring run (three assists for Manu,) but the Magic scored four straight to cut it to six. It wasn't until Manu converted an and-one to put the Spurs up 10 with two and a half minutes left that it seemed like the Spurs were in full control and the game was essentially over.

A Kawhi Leonard steal and dunk the other way, followed by a Tony Parker triple pushed it to 15 and Pop emptied the bench.

Sure the Spurs didn't play the greatest game but they put up 121 points, got another win, and finished the game executing at a high level.

Notes:

• Tony Parker was good tonight after a ho-hum performance against the Heat. He scored 30 points on 19 shots, and finished with a game-high plus-19.
• Tim Duncan struggled shooting the ball tonight after an otstanding performance against the Heat. He did grab 10 boards and block three shots to go with his 11 points (on 13 shots)
• Danny green only took four shots, but they were all threes, and they all went in. That's a 150 true-shooting percentage. He also grabbed six boards and had four assists, two blocks, and a plus-14.
• The only player with a positive plus/minus on the bench was Manu Ginobili. He scored 24 points on 17 shots, and had five assists to only ONE turnover. Stay healthy stay healthy stay healthy
• Before the game the Spurs had played the schedule with the highest oppenents winning percentage. 100-something missed games from the starters and facing the toughest schedule was no matter for the good guys who have a share of the best record in the league. Woo-Hoo!

Post-Game Gregg Popovich interview:

On the win

I was real proud of them for grinding that one out. I thought Orlando played really good basketball. They were aggressive, they shared it, they were in attack mode all night, I thought their defense was good. We picked our defense up, got a little more physical, got lose balls and boards, did a better job just grinding it out and grinding it out until we finally got it done. So I was proud of them tonight.

On the Big-3 taking over down the stretch

Sure, I don't care who takes over, just as long as it's someone on the home team.

On Kawhi Leonard:

Kawhi is a bad man.

On how much a Whi coast-to-coast steal swings the momentum:

significantly

Asked if this grind-out game prepared the team for Chicago:

Every game is the same in the NBA. It's tough to win a game, Chicago is a fine team in every shape and form...and playing well. It doesn't matter who you go play, home or away, you've got to bring it to win an NBA game.