San Antonio Spurs Player Grades in Win Over Denver Nuggets

The San Antonio Spurs won their sixth straight game on Friday night, defeating the Denver Nuggets at home 123-93.

Denver took an early 3-2 lead in the first quarter by way of a Randy Foye three but that was the biggest lead they would get all night.

The Spurs quickly took control after that point, scoring 45 points in the first quarter on their way to a 20 point lead at the half.

The Nuggets, playing comeback ball, just could not find that spark to cut the deficit, falling behind by as many 37 on the way to their loss.

Danny Green led the way for the victorious Spurs, scoring 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 21 minutes. Kawhi Leonard was a big contributor to the win as well, 20 points and four assists.

For the Nuggets, it was Danilo Gallinari who tried to curb the offensive onslaught with 20 points. Jameer Nelson also added to the cause, 14 points and three rebounds.

Now that the game is over, we have post-game grades for key Spurs players in the San Antonio Denver game!

Check out our San Antonio Spurs player grades below!

C+. Tony Parker continued to struggle with scoring the ball after a streak of strong games to close March, this time coming away with only four points on 2-of-4 shooting in 25 minutes. The 6-foot-2 guard did manage to make up for his scoring struggles, however, with his work elsewhere on the court. Parker was able to grab six rebounds, dish out five assists, and pick up two steals. He also did a masterful job defending Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson, who was limited to seven points on a poor 3-of-10 shooting. Definitely some room for imporvement next game but not too bad considering his teammates were able to pick up some of the scoring slack.. PG. San Antonio Spurs. TONY PARKER

A. Danny Green was an absolute terror on the offensive side of the ball on Friday night. Green torched Denver with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting, 6-of-6 from deep. The reason he doesn’t get an “A+,” however, is because he let his work in other areas slip up. The former Tar Heel was only able to come away with one rebound, one assist, one steal, and a block. Still it’s pretty hard to knock Green too much considering all of that work was done in the matter of 20 minutes.. SG. San Antonio Spurs. DANNY GREEN

San Antonio Spurs. KAWHI LEONARD. B+. Kawhi Leonard recovered quite nicely against the Nuggets following a 10 point outing on Wednesday. Leonard is finally living up to expectations and has become the focal point of the Spurs offense over the course of the second half of the season. The San Diego State star put his offensive prowess on full display on Friday, scoring 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Leonard also did a great job of facilitating ball movement from the three spot, contributing four assists. Defensively, the 2014 Finals MVP was average, but, that’s passable since the Spurs offense absolutely ripped the Nuggets defense.. SF

Even with Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich electing to keep his minutes low against the Nuggets, Tim Duncan made his presence known. Duncan was on the floor for only 20 minutes but was still able to accumulate four points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. San Antonio is trying to keep the five-time champion’s minutes low to keep him ready for the playoffs. So far it seems like a great strategy as Duncan refuses to lose consistency even with ever-changing minutes.. PF. San Antonio Spurs. TIM DUNCAN. B+

INC. While Tiago Splitter is mostly known for his defensive abilities, it was his work on offense that garnered him this high player grade. Splitter only stepped on the floor for six minutes but ended up with seven points, going 3-of-4 from the field. The Brazilian big man also contributed two rebounds in his quick showing. Unfortunately for the Spurs, however, this quick stint was not by choice as Splitter left the game with a calf injury. San Antonio really needs the 6-foot-11 center to help lock down the paint so here’s to hoping for a quick recovery.. C. San Antonio Spurs. TIAGO SPLITTER

A+. The San Antonio Spurs bench burned the Denver Nuggets on Friday, combining for 67 points. For those of you that don’t want to do the math, that means the Spurs reserves accounted for just over half of San Antonio’s points. Credit that in large part thanks to the work of Aron Baynes, Marco Belinelli, and Boris Diaw. Baynes had 18 points and four rebounds, Diaw had 13 points and four rebounds, and Belinelli had 14 points and six rebounds. Overall, great work by the bench to give the Spurs starters some much needed rest in the final weeks of the season.. . . SAN ANTONIO SPURS BENCH

Next: Game Recap: Spurs vs Nuggets