San Antonio Returns From Road Trip To Beat Pacers

By ESPN

Kawhi Leonard would prefer to see the Spurs seal their wins with sound defense, rather than last-second shots.

When they need a big basket, though, he's up to the task.

Leonard had 31 points and 10 rebounds, and San Antonio returned from an eight-game road trip to beat the Indiana Pacers 100-99 on Wednesday night.

Leonard hit a turnaround, fade-away jumper from 16 feet against Paul George with 2.4 seconds left to help the Spurs win their first home game since Feb 4.

"Just something you think about when you're a kid and you're in your front yard or at your school playing and you just count down 3, 2, 1," Leonard said. "But I would rather us play a better game and close it out without leaving the last shot up to me, but that's what happened tonight and I had to respond for my team."

Indiana's Monta Ellis missed a pair of free throws with nine seconds remaining and George missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"We didn't run it right at all," George said of his final shot. "(C.J.) Miles was supposed to pin down and he didn't pin down. He made me catch the ball way out there and I tried to make something happen."

San Antonio extended its winning streak to five games, including four straight to close its annual rodeo road trip in February.

Playing without point guard Tony Parker, who missed the game with a bruised quadriceps, the Spurs' starters struggled throughout. Leonard outscored San Antonio's other starters by 12 points.

"I don't know what the reason is that first game back from a long road trip, but it always seems it's a grind," Spurs reserve David Lee said. "Guys aren't always at their best and it wasn't from a lack of effort. I thought we played really, really hard. Indiana is a tough team and they were hitting shots, but those are the kind of games you need to find a way to win."

The matchup of All-Star forwards was a stalemate until the final five minutes. Leonard scored San Antonio's final nine points during that stretch, including the game-winning shot, while George was limited to a pair of free throws.

"It's fun just being able to guard somebody that is just coming at you aggressively every possession," Leonard said. "And even when I'm coming back with the ball he's into my head wanting me to miss shots. It's just fun playing basketball like that."

George finished with 22 points, Miles added 19 and Myles Turner had 16 for the Pacers.

Pau Gasol and Lee had 18 points each off the bench for the Spurs.

"Our second unit did a good job at the end of that third coming into the fourth quarter just keeping us within two," Leonard said. "Just keeping us there around that one-possession mark, and the starters came in with the same energy that they provided and we got going."

Wednesday, March 1 Scoreboard

New York 101, Orlando 90

Washington 105, Toronto 96

Atlanta 100, Dallas 95

Miami 125, Philadelphia 98

Denver 110, Milwaukee 98

New Orleans 109, Detroit 86

Boston 103, Cleveland 99

San Antonio 100, Indiana 99

Minnesota 107, Utah 80

Houston 122,  Los Angeles Clippers 103

Brooklyn 109, Sacramento 100

Thursday, March 2 Schedule (All Times Central)

Golden State at Chicago, 7 p.m.

Charlotte at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

Oklahoma City at Portland, 9:30 p.m.