Final Score: Spurs wipe out Raptors, 117-107

After an uncharacteristic first chunk of the season, things are finally beginning to come together for San Antonio as of late. Largely due to the late-season emergence of the 2014 Finals MVP caliber Kawhi Leonard, and the re-birth of Tony Parker.

Tonights match-up against the Toronto Raptors was no exception. Even without Manu Ginobili, who left shoot-around early, feeling ill, Tony, Kawhi, and the Spurs weren't about to let their winning streak end at the claws of the Raptors, who haven't won in the AT&T center since 2007.

The Spurs had a difficult time scoring inside early, with Toronto's seven-footer Jonas Valanciunas protecting the paint. Nothing was falling for San Antonio, shooting 2-for-11 to start the game. The Spurs did a good job on the offensive boards, grabbing eight in the first quarter, but just couldn't convert. Luckily though, the second chance opportunities had the benefit of limiting the Raptor's possessions.

Spurs picked it up and closed off the quarter on an incredibly fun 16-to-4 run. Tony started off strong again, doing a lot of damage in the open court, slicing and dicing through Toronto's defense before they got a chance to set up. Parker started off knocking down four of his first five attempts, and had ten points in the first.

But, sorry Tony, This was the best thing about the first quarter:

I love Kawhi dunks. His facial expression after a huge posterizing slam is the same as it is after an uncontested lay-up. He shows no emotion. He just goes out there and produces, epitomizing the Spurs' image.

San Antonio came out just as strong to start the second. The ball movement was beautiful. Spurs were finding cutters, driving and kicking, and weren't taking any bad shots. In fact, some Spurs were even passing up on shots they should have taken. Danny Green wasn't however, going four-for-four from behind the arc in the first half, including an "and-one" three.

The Spurs led the Raptors by 20 at the break. They put up 61 points, shooting just a hair under 50%, and a ridiculous 67% from three.

As Sean Elliot said as the second quarter came to an end, the Spurs closed out the half "demoralizing the Raptors," wanting them to "head into the locker-room looking forward to going home."

The Raptors came out with a sense of urgency, but the Spurs just wore them down too much in the first half, and Toronto couldn't fully recover. Terrence Ross couldn't find his groove on offense, shooting 2-for-9. Valanciunas had to sit early in the third quarter with four fouls. No one on the team was hitting from deep. Some life shown from Demar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Amir Johnson in the third cut the Spurs lead to 11 just before the end of the third, but a Matt Bonner corner three put it right back up to 14 to head into the fourth.

The Raptors wanted to speed the game up to lightning speed for the fourth quarter, and were able to reduce the lead to six ith just under three minutes to go. As bad as it is to have a 26 point lead cut down to six, I never found myself too worried. Perhaps it's an effect of how well the Spurs have been playing lately, or maybe I'm just a biased, optimistic Spurs fan. Whatever the case, my gut feeling that the Spurs wouldn't lose this game held true.

After an impressive comeback from Toronto, the Spurs held on. Although they gave up a big lead in what seemed like a walk through the park, it was still a fun win. Tony is continuing to shine, Danny was knocking down his threes, Tim Duncan didn't miss all of his shots (Yay!). I think Kawhi had about five dunks? Maybe 20? I'm not sure. He ended up with 24 points, 11 boards and FIVE steals. It's like you can literally see him getting better every second he's on the floor.

Your Spurs win 117-107, improving to 40-23, extending the win streak to six.

Notes:

Parker had 23 points to go along with nine assists to just one turnover. I don't like getting ahead of myself, but at what point can we say Tony Parker is 100% back? While earlier in the season I was hoping to gain a spark off the bench from Cory Joseph or Patty Mills to make up for Parker's poor play, now I find myself hoping we don't lose a step when Tony sits. Tony has been a master at controlling the pace of these last five or six games.

With 24 points tonight, Kawhi has now scored 20 or more in five straight games. That's the longest 20+ streak of his career so far. We're a completely different ball club when he's playing well.

Danny Green hit five-of-six threes tonight. In doing so, he passed Sean Elliot for fourth in career three point field goals made for the franchise. (Manu is first with over 1200, more than double Danny's makes). He's 20-for-38 from beyond the arc in his last seven games.

Spurs have scored 100+ in each win during this streak. My brilliant analysis from that is that the Spurs can win when they score a lot of points.

Duncan left the game with 55 seconds left after a collision with Tiago Splitter. He didn't LOOK like he was in much pain, so let's hope the exit was just a precautionary measure.

With a Mavericks loss tonight, the Spurs move up to sixth in the Western Conference standings.

Watch out, NBA. The Spurs aren't done yet.

Up Next:

LeBron James and the Cavaliers come to San Antonio on Thursday night for the fifth game of the six game home stretch.