Game Recap: Spurs Escape Short-Handed Hawks, 99-97

Apr 6, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Ivan Johnson (44) has his shot blocked by San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) during the first half at the AT

In what looked more like a preseason basketball game, the Spurs narrowly beat the Hawks on Saturday, 99-97. With Saturday night’s victory, the Spurs secured their 19th division title, and third in a row.

Tim Duncan continues to do Tim Duncan things, putting up a monster 31 points and 14 rebounds. Duncan also added 4 blocks to his fifth 30-point game of the season. Also taking care of business for San Antonio, Kawhi Leonard. Everyone’s favorite budding superstar managed to stuff the stat sheet tonight with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, to go with a pair of blocks and steals.

The Atlanta Hawks came into San Antonio basically sans their starting lineup. With no Josh Smith, Al Horford, Kyle Korver, Devin Harris or DeShawn Stevenson, someone named Mike Scott had 22 points to go along with 6 rebounds. Rookie John Jenkins also added 23 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 28 minutes.

The Spurs get a nice break before having to travel to Denver for the game on Wednesday, April 10th. Tipoff is at 10:30 PM EST.

Game Notes

• The injuries just continue to pile on for the Spurs, as Boris Diaw was limited to 9 minutes tonight, due to back spasms. No word yet on if Diaw will miss an extended period of time, but with only 5 games left, getting healthy before the playoffs is the only priority.
• DeJuan Blair played a hell of a game. After going on a (since deleted) Instagram rant, Blair had a solid 11 points and 7 rebounds, filling in admirably after Diaw’s departure. Realistically, this game doesn’t earn him any extra playing time. DeJuan’s performance came against Anthony Tolliver, Ivan Johnson and Johan Petro. No disrespect to those three, but they’re not exactly the All-Stars players Atlanta normally relies on.
• Matt Bonner had 4 blocks tonight. I repeat, Matthew Robert Bonner, had 4 blocks tonight. I can’t even…
• The Hawks have nothing to be upset about. An interesting note from the Atlanta Hawks Twitter feed, Johan Petro, Mike Scott, Shelvin Mack and John Jenkins all tied or broke season-highs in points tonight. Scott and Jenkins set new career-highs, while Mack tied his.
• Because we can never talk enough about Kawhi Leonard, tonight Leonard achieved a small career milestone: Scoring at least 20 points in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. I cannot stress how anxious and excited I am to see Leonard in the playoffs, seeing how well he’s contributed in the absence of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

Tweet of the Night

Pounding the Rock and 48 Minutes of Hell’s own Matthew Tynan had the tweet of the night, getting Matt Bonner’s response to his Dikembe Mutombo-esque game:

Matt Bonner on his four blocks: “Just another day in the life of the Red Mamba.”

— Matthew R Tynan (@Matthew_Tynan) April 7, 2013