Spurs at Kings Final Score: Spurs win 110-105, extend win-streak to four

The Spurs have now won four games in a row after a two-game skid and improve to 9-3 on the year. They’ve also won their first six road games of the season for just the third time in franchise history. A couple more wins on the road will match the franchise high of an 8-0 start on the road that they set in the 2010-2011 season.

The Spurs also set a season-high mark of 29 assists in the game.

Pau Gasol was great for the road team and scored a season-high 24 points, his third 20-point game of the season and his fifth double-digit scoring effort in the last six games. He also grabbed a team-high nine boards.

The Spurs won their seventh-straight game over the Kings and their 27th of their last 29 in the series. The result looks closer than the game was — San Antonio possessed an 18-point lead at one point — after the deep bench was emptied at the end of the game and played less than stellar basketball to say the least. But hey, the good guys got another win and the young, raw part of the roster got some run. That’s a good thing.

The Spurs starters were great, posting plus/minuses of +5 for LaMarcus Aldridge (who spent considerable time as the center with the bench), +25 for Kawhi Leonard, +25 for Pau Gasol, a game-high +30 for Tony Parker and a +29 for Danny Green. The starters also provided 83 of the 110 points for the Spurs.

Tony Parker had another solid performance after coming back from injury, scoring 14 points on 70% shooting and adding three boards and a game-high seven assists. He’s served as a steadying force for the guys and after the game said that, “We have a lot of weapons on the team. I just have to make sure I pick my spots, to be aggressive, to keep everyone involved, LaMarcus, Pau and Kawhi, obviously. Lately those three have been playing very good. We’re getting Pau more involved, so that’s very good, and Kawhi is still being very aggressive and LA the same thing. So if we play like that we’re going to be pretty good.”

The bench was another story and continued their recent struggles, not just at the very end of the game but for the entire contest. Davis Bertans got 17 minutes of run, a career high, and scored his first points of the month for the silver and black and was the only player off the bench to finish with a positive +/- (+3) as he got some play with the starters with Dewayne Dedmon nursing a knee sprain and David Lee getting into early foul trouble.

9-3 is good, and it keeps the Spurs in the three-seed in the Western Conference. And if you didn’t see, the Clippers lost tonight putting the Spurs just a game-back in the loss column. It’s been a strange start with the team’s struggles at home and a number of less-than-convincing wins but when a less-scrutinizing view is applied, San Antonio is enjoying a pretty good start. I think almost all fans would have taken a 9-3 start before the season started considering all of the changes the franchise has gone through since last season.

Pop Quote of the Night:

On sticking with the young guys at the end of the game with the Kings making a late surge:

It’s good for them. It’s a good lesson for them. It matures people.

Up Next:

The Spurs stay out West and will enjoy a day off before they head to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers for the first time this season. Of course, there will be no Kobe and no Timmy, a sad realization for fans everywhere. The game tips at 9:35 Spurs time and can be seen on KENS5 in San Antonio and on NBA League Pass outside of the local market.