San Antonio Spurs 114, Utah Jazz 83
SAN ANTONIO -- Role players Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard combined to nearly outscore Utah in the first half, helping San Antonio take an insurmountable lead en route to a 114-83 victory Wednesday at the AT&T Center in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
The Spurs hold a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-seven series, which shifts to Utah for Saturday's Game 3. Tipoff is 10 p.m. EST.
How dominant were Green and Leonard during the first two quarters?
Not only did both surpass their regular-season scoring averages with 13 and 12 points, respectively, their combined total almost surpassed Utah's entire total of 26.
The Spurs led by 25 at that point, after which their only real concern was staying healthy.
It was just another example of the Spurs' vaunted depth, a decisive factor in their Game 1 victory and a major reason they were able to claim the best record in the Western Conference.
Green, who scored only two points in San Antonio's 106-91 triumph on Sunday, finished with 13 while Leonard scored 17.
Tony Parker, the dominant force in Game 1 with 28 points and eight assists, overcame a slow start to lead the Spurs with 18 and nine.
The Spurs have developed a more offensive style in recent years, a far cry from their defensive-minded championship teams.
But they revisited those days on Wednesday, holding the Jazz to just 34.4 percent shooting with 15 turnovers.
Utah had scored nine unanswered points to cut what had been a double-digit deficit to five, 31-26. But the Spurs, led by the unlikely duo of Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard, blew the game open with a 20-0 run late in the second quarter.
Green had 11 points during the streak, including three 3-pointers. Leonard added five. They had 13 and 12 at halftime, respectively, to offset quiet starts from usual stalwarts Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
Led by their role players, the Spurs took a commanding 53-26 lead at halftime.
It was San Antonio's second overwhelming run of the game. The Spurs scored 15 of 17 points during one early stretch to push ahead 17-4. Leonard provided the impetus with seven points, including a 3 off Boris Diaw's drive-and-kick. Green capped the run with a dunk.
Reserve guard Gary Neal became the eighth Spur to score in the opening quarter with a layup that put the Spurs up 28-17.
San Antonio failed to score on nine of their first 10 possessions of the second half, allowing Utah to climb back in the game. That's when Green and Leonard returned, however, providing the Jazz with a problem for which they had no answer.
NOTES: The Spurs are 20-1 in their NBA history after taking a 2-0 series lead. Their only loss came to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004...Spurs legend David Robinson was on hand to help present coach Gregg Popovich with the NBA Coach of the Year award before tipoff. Popovich also won the award in 2003... the Jazz flew home after Sunday's game before returning to San Antonio Tuesday night.
