National Basketball Association and Western Conference second leading team San Antonio Spurs handed New Orleans Pelicans their 37^th defeat of the season with the 94-86 victory at the Smoothie King Center on Thursday night.

Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high 30 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double game performance for the Spurs.

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The All-Star forward also had 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots in 39.01 minutes of playing time. Leonard went 12 for 22 from the field and connected 6 for 10 from the three-point range, including the game-sealing trey in the last seconds of the game.

"I'm just playing in the flow of the game. It doesn't matter what quarter it is. I'm going to play the right basketball so we can get the right shots," Leonard maintained when asked if he made an effort to be more confident at crunch time. "Fortunately, I was able to make shots down the stretch."

Starting forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who gave the Spurs the lead for good with a jumper courtesy of an assist by Tim Duncan, finished the game with 26 points and Danny Green contributed 11 points for the Spurs, who stretched their winning-streak to six.

Veteran center Duncan just had 7 points, 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots in 21.48 minutes of game time.

The game was close as the biggest lead was just seven points with the Pelicans leading 81-74 in the fourth quarter with 6:01 minutes remaining.

Leonard tied the game to 86 all in the last 2:42 minutes of the match, and then Aldridge hit a jump shot to overtake the lead 88-86. The Pelicans tried to retaliate but Eric Gordon's layup shot was blocked by Duncan and Patty Mills connected a three-pointer to make it 91-86 with over a minute left to play.

After a New Orleans timeout, Leonard got the rebound from a three-pointer missed by Gordon and sank another trey to stretch the lead of San Antonio to 94-86 with 35.3 second left.

TagsSan Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans, NBA