Spurs continue to find ways to win on the road, edge Bucks 97-96

WHAT A GAME!!!

The Spurs just can’t lose on the road. It’s remarkable. Here I am remarking on it. They’re now 12-0 away from the AT&T Center and 17-4 overall.

It was a slow start for San Antonio, with Milwaukee’s absurd length really bothering the guys in Silver and Black. The second period was quite a drag for the team, with the Spurs scoring just nine points and giving up 24 to the Bucks.

But in the end the Spurs completed an impressive 15-point comeback on the road. The team’s late-game execution has been phenomenal this season.

It was an impressive third quarter performance that got the team back within striking distance. A run was sparked when Tony Parker left the game with a knee injury and Gregg Popovich inserted my new favorite guy, Nico Laprovittola.

Nico, along with Dewayne Dedmon, injected incredible energy into the team. Dedmon had a slew of nice defensive plays and ferocious dunks helped by some beautiful play from Nico. Nico didn’t spend much time in the game, but he hit a triple and dished five replay-worthy dimes in just nine minutes on the floor. He finished with a +9 in the game.

Dedmon’s line was just as impressive — 10 points, six boards and a block in just 14 minutes.

A moment of chippiness took place toward the end of the third quarter with Greg Monroe and Dewayne Dedmon battling for a rebound. Davis Bertans took offense to Monroe’s aggressiveness and gave the big man a little shove, which was definitely unexpected. That led to Michael Beasley taking offense to Bertans, shoving Bertans while Monroe gave a couple of shoves to Nico’s face. After the refs sorted it all out they ended up calling a jump ball and ejected Bertans and Beasley in addition to assessing technicals on Monroe and Dedmon. After the game Bertans had the quote of the night.

“In Serbia. we’d get ejected for real fights.”

This guy...I like this guy.

It all seemed pretty silly, but it was a fairly entertaining few minutes. The Spurs won the jump, scored and pulled within two, 68-70, after trailing by 15 at one point.

Kawhi Leonard, superhero, came alive in a big way in the fourth and was brilliant when the Spurs needed him the most. He certainly has a sense when he needs to go into save-the-day mode to go with those giant hands. He dropped 16 points in the quarter and was helped by an inspired performance from LaMarcus Aldridge who did a lot of little things to help get the team over the hump.

This was a really fun game. This team is exciting and a large part of that comes from just how different it is from what we saw last season.

Pau deserves a mention, scoring eight straight for the Spurs in the third. He was solid when San Antonio was on the edge. The good guys are coming together nicely, there’s a ton of potential for this team to be something special. There’s something to be said for the team finding ways to win close ones. They’ve got heart, if many flaws to work out.

The Spurs are on a quick turnaround and play the Minnesota Timber Wolves on Tuesday night as the second game of a three-game road trip.