CHINA TOPIX

11/22/2024 01:45:49 am

Make CT Your Homepage

NBA Recap: San Antonio Spurs Rout Sacramento Kings in Manu Ginobili’s Return Game

manu ginobili

(Photo : gettyimages.com) Manu Ginobili, who has been out of action for about a month, had a season-high 22 points coming off the bench in his return game for San Antonio.

The league and Western Conference second-best club San Antonio Spurs kept up their game dominance with a 104-94 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings at the AT&T Center on Saturday night.

All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard paced the Spurs with another double-double game performance of 25 points and 13 rebounds, along with 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot. The is the eight straight win in a row for San Antonio.

Like Us on Facebook

The 2008 NBA Sixth man of the Year Manu Ginobili, who has been sidelined for a month (missing 12 games) due to a testicle injury, had a season-high 22 points coming off the bench in his return for the Spurs.

"What happened on the court was very unexpected," Ginobili, who went 8 for 11 from the floor and showed no psychological or physical effects from the surgery, said. "When (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) told me I was going to play a few minutes, I said, 'Great.' It's OK if I don't shoot, I just want to play, and then the game developed like that. It felt good."

With the win, the Spurs have won 53-9 of their last 62 games and remain unbeaten in 30 games played at home this season.

David West and Boris Diaw chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively. The two players started for the Spurs in place of Tim Duncan, who sat out to rest, and LaMarcus Aldridge, who reportedly had a migraine.

San Antonio capped the first half of the game with a slim 57-54 lead, but made a huge 29-13 run in the third period to stretch the margin to 19 points with 86-67 going into the final quarter of the match.

In the final period of the game, the Spurs continued their dominance over the Kings and protected their lead very well to seal the win over Sacramento, which have lost seven consecutive games in San Antonio. Their last victory at the AT&T Center was on Jan. 20, 2012.

DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings with 31 points and 9 rebounds, while Quincy Acy had 16. 

Real Time Analytics