The mastery continues – both of the Spurs over the Hawks and mentor over protégé.
The Spurs led by as many as 30 points en route to a 108-88 drubbing of the Hawks Saturday night at AT&T Center. It was the Spurs’ 10th straight win overall and 18th straight in San Antonio. Mike Budenholzer, who spent 19 seasons with the Spurs before joining the Hawks, is 0-5 in the regular season against Gregg Popovich.
The Hawks (11-8) completed a stretch of four games in five days with a 2-2 record.
The Spurs (14-3) have won five straight and 11 of the past 12 games. They ran their home record to a perfect 9-0.
Here are the key players and five observations on the game:
Three key players
Kawhi Leonard: He scored a game-high 22 points on 6 of 11 shooting, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range. He was also 7 of 7 from the free-throw line.
Tim Duncan: The 39-year old finished with a double-double of 10 points and 18 rebounds, including five offensive boards. He didn't play in the fourth quarter.
Al Horford: He led the Hawks' starters in scoring with just 10 points.
Five observations
1. Weary Hawks
The Hawks had a chance to respond to a brutal portion of the schedule. They appeared to use all of their energy in erasing an early deficit and were out of gas by the second quarter when the Spurs made their decisive run. The starting five combined for just 38 points – Al Horford (10), Thabo Sefolosha (8), Paul Millsap (8), Jeff Teague (6) and Kyle Korver (6). Through three quarters, before most went to the bench to watch the final 12 minutes, the unit was a combined minus-119.
2. No stopping Leonard
The Hawks used a wing rotation of Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore to try to slow down Leonard, the Spurs’ leading scorer. They were largely ineffective. Leonard finished with 22 points, including a stretch between the second and third quarters when he scored all 15 Spurs points in a 15-1 run.
3. Second-quarter drubbing
The Hawks were outscored 31-12 in the second quarter after shooting 5 of 18 from the field with six turnovers. They trailed at halftime 54-37. Lamar Patterson hit a 3-pointer 50 seconds into the period to put the Hawks up 30-25. They would be outscored 18-2 over the next 5:28. During the Spurs’ run the Hawks went 1 of 7 with four turnovers. The Spurs also closed the quarter on an 11-1 run with Leonard doing all their scoring. The Hawks’ 34 points was the lowest scoring half this season and the 12 second-quarter points were the lowest of any quarter this season by six points.
4. First-quarter rally
The Hawks trailed early, facing separate deficits of nine and seven points in the first quarter. They nearly erased the nine-point deficit with a 9-2 run. They completely erased the seven-point deficit by ending the period on a 13-4 run. The Hawks got in the early hole by starting 0 of 4 with two turnovers in the opening 2:45. Millsap had eight points in the quarter. He wouldn’t score again.
5. She’s a coach
Don’t think for a second that Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon doesn’t play an important role. During a second-quarter timeout, Hammon ran the show for the Spurs, talking to players and drawing up a play. Head coach Popovich just stood behind the first female assistant coach and let her work. It was Hammon who coached the Spurs to the title in the Las Vegas Summer League in June.
