SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio's emphasis on continuous ball movement was cast aside in the fourth quarter. Even Coach Gregg Popovich was content to see the ball stick in Kawhi Leonard's over-sized hands.
Leonard scored San Antonio's first 15 points of the final period on his way to 25 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Spurs to a 103-89 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
"What Kawhi did today was incredible and it was fun to watch," teammate Manu Ginobili said.
San Antonio won for the 13th time in 16 games to remain sixth in the Western Conference -- 2 1/2 games ahead of Dallas and 1 1/2 games behind the Clippers.
Leonard took advantage of defensive mismatches with Memphis' top wing defender, Tony Allen, sitting out with a strained left hamstring. The Grizzlies tried to shuttle Jeff Green between Leonard and Boris Diaw, which led 7-foot center Kosta Koufos to defend Leonard at times.
"We went to him and he went to himself," Popovich said. "It was little bit of both. He was rolling and he felt it."
Leonard shot 6 for 7 from the field in the fourth quarter, including his only three-pointer of the game.
"I was getting the shots that I wanted," Leonard said. "Guys were looking for me and they fell."
"He made some tough shots, he made a lot of them," Memphis center Marc Gasol said.
San Antonio guard Tony Parker had nine of his 17 points in the fourth quarter. Tiago Splitter finished with 15 points, and Tim Duncan and Boris Diaw scored 10 apiece.
The Spurs shot 51 percent from the field in handing the Grizzlies their third consecutive loss.
"I'm glad we're done playing them this season," Memphis Coach Dave Joerger said.
Zach Randolph had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Memphis, and Jeff Green scored 19 points.
Gasol finished with 16 points on 7-for-15 shooting.
"I couldn't get my rhythm the first half," Gasol said. "Honestly, I didn't feel like I had a rhythm the whole game or have had a rhythm in a while."
Sports on 03/30/2015