Spurs must focus on task prior to Duncan tribute (Dec 18, 2016)
San Antonio is one of the best in the NBA because of its continual attention to detail but even a Spurs' team laden with veterans who have seen it all will have a hard time focusing on the task at hand when they square off against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
That's because of what's scheduled after the game.
The Spurs will retire the No. 21 jersey of former power forward Tim Duncan in a lavish ceremony. Duncan's 19-year career, all with San Antonio, featured five championships and a 1,072-438 regular-season record. The .710 winning percentage is the best 19-year stretch in NBA history and was the best in all of the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB over that time.
It's hard to predict how the usually stoic Duncan, a player who shunned the spotlight while becoming arguably the best power forward to ever play the game, will react when he's squarely the center of attention. But it will be memorable, especially if he gets emotional.
"It's going to be emotional for Tim because it's emotional for everybody," Spurs guard and longtime teammate Manu Ginobili said. "It's been 20 years of his life around something. He accomplished unbelievable things. It's going to be a great opportunity to close it the way he deserves."
On the court, the Spurs (21-5) are again among the league's elite teams, winning their past three games and seven of their last nine outings after a nine-game winning streak. Forward Kawhi Leonard, who leads the team with 24.5 points per game, has taken over for Duncan as the Spurs' leader.
Leonard has either led or shared the lead in scoring in 21 of the Spurs' 26 games. Pau Gasol, San Antonio's key offseason free agent acquisition and Duncan's replacement at in the paint, has picked up his statistical impact in the past few games, thanks to a coaching session with Duncan during the Spurs' off days earlier this week.
San Antonio beats teams with execution and depth, aspects that Gasol is enjoying through the first quarter of the season.
"We have such a deep group; we don't play our guys a lot of minutes so we're able to sustain our effort for the whole game," Gasol said Thursday after the Spurs beat Phoenix 107-92. "When teams ramp it up and make their runs and even get ahead, it's hard for them to sustain that. Our second halves and our fourth quarters are strong because we keep coming until we break the game open."
The victory over Phoenix was the 14th in San Antonio's first 15 games away from the AT&T Center, matching the best road start in NBA history by joining the 1970-71 Lakers and 2015-16 Warriors.
New Orleans heads to the Alamo City after a 122-100 loss to Houston on Friday in which the Rockets poured in 24 3-point baskets in 61 attempts, setting a new league record in both categories.
"You have to be good in transition defense and you have to run them off the 3-point line," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said of the Rockets. "And obviously we didn't do a very good job of either one of those."
Forward Anthony Davis paced the Pelicans (9-19) with 19 points despite playing just 22 minutes. Davis scored 12 of New Orleans' first 21 points and departed in the third quarter with a left lower-leg contusion but he should be available for Sunday's contest.
"Davis just got kicked, and the game wasn't in a position where I thought that it was worth the risk to put him back out there -- and we just weren't going to do it," Gentry said.
In the first meeting between the two teams this season, San Antonio beat the Pelicans 98-79 in its home opener on Oct. 29. The Spurs currently own a four-game winning streak against New Orleans dating to a 104-90 loss to the Pelicans on Nov. 20, 2015.
