The San Antonio Spurs made their first visit to the American Airlines Arena since being crowned NBA champs. The Miami Heat were not the same team from last year, however Kawhi Leonard looked like his old self. The NBA Finals MVP had 22 points, nine rebounds and four steals and the Spurs beat the Heat 95-81.
The Spurs team is known for being the steak with no sizzle however all they do is win. San Antonio is now two wins away from its 16th consecutive 50-win season, with eight games remaining. The last time the Spurs didn’t win 50 was the 1998-99 season; they had good reason – that was only a 50-game season.
“We played good D,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after his team’s fourth straight win, holding opponents to fewer than 92 points in each of those games.
Leonard held Dwyane Wade to 6-for-20 shooting. San Antonio stayed at number six in the West, and could punch a playoff ticket Wednesday in Orlando. The Heat remained in the number seven spot in the East, only a half game up on number eight Brooklyn.
Très bien for Tony Parker. He added 16 points in his 1,000th NBA game. Parker is now the second player in Spurs history with 1,000 regular season appearances, behind Tim Duncan (1,323).
