San Antonio Spurs Player Grades in Win Over Denver Nuggets

The San Antonio Spurs won their fourth straight game on Friday night, defeating the Denver Nuggets 120-111 at home in a shootout.

Both teams were on their game offensively with each shooting over 50% for the game from the field. The Spurs were able to claim the win by outscoring the Nuggets each quarter.

Kawhi Leonard was the man of the night for San Antonio, contributing a game-high 25 points. The 2014 NBA Finals MVP also added eight rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Tony Parker was also impressive, scoring 24 along with seven assists.

The Nuggets had a forward-guard combo working as well with Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried having great games for Denver. Lawson finished with 23 points and nine assists while Faried put in a 20 point, 10 rebound effort.

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!

PG. San Antonio Spurs. TONY PARKER. A-. Tony Parker kept up the momentum from his 19 point outing against the Kings on Friday night versus the Nuggets. Parker showed some of that leadership Spurs fans were looking for, finishing with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting along with seven assists. The only area where he seemed to struggle was on the defensive end. Nuggets starting point guard Ty Lawson ripped Parker and the rest of the San Antonio gurads for 23 points and nine assists. We won’t knock him too much, however, since it was not only Parker who had issues defensively.

B+. Danny Green, much like Parker, kept humming along, this time against the Nuggets. Green played his role to perfection on Friday night scoring 11 points, grabbing three rebounds, dishing out three assists, and picking up a steal and a block. The former Tar Heel also did a better job than some of his teammates in locking down his position, the Denver two guards. Green has really found his groove during this win streak and San Antonio fans need to hope that continues so the team can keep winning and move up in the West standings.. SG. San Antonio Spurs. DANNY GREEN

A. I don’t know if Gregg Popovich had a talk with Kawhi Leonard but something, something good, has gotten into the fourth year forward. Leonard was back at it again on Friday, delivering his third straight 20-plus point game with 25 points. He also played well on the defensive side of the ball adding eight rebounds, three steals, and a block. Denver’s forwards had a pretty good night, 30 points combined between Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari, but it could have been a lot worse had it not been for Leonard.. SF. San Antonio Spurs. KAWHI LEONARD

Tim Duncan recovered somewhat from his abysmal performance against the Kings on Friday night versus the Nuggets. Duncan did not really do a great job rebounding, only pulling down three boards, but he did contribute in the scoring department, accounting for 15 of the Spurs 120 points. The five-time champion also blocked three shots. Like most of the San Antonio starters it would have been nice to see a little more defensive impact from Duncan but that’s excusable given the outcome of the game.. PF. San Antonio Spurs. TIM DUNCAN. B

C. San Antonio Spurs. TIAGO SPLITTER. B+. Tiago Splitter would have received an “A+” for this game had his defensive been on point. Splitter’s energy was there against the Nuggets, evident by his 10 point, seven rebound performance in 26 minutes, however he struggled to contain Denver big man Kenneth Faried who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Still, it was good to see Splitter use his minutes effectively and make a solid contribution to the team.

The San Antonio Spurs bench really did not produce much for the Spurs in this win, combining for only 35 points. The good news was that all San Antonio starters finished in double-figures, making the lack of bench production a non-issue. Even though the reserves production was not that great, it once again Manu Ginobili who was ahead of the pack. Ginobili finished with a bench high nine points while also collecting two rebounds and two assists. Marco Belinelli was also solid with nine points on 2-of-5 shooting. The bench needs to step up for future game, but, if the starters give the same production as tonight, this Spurs team is going to be tough to deal with, bench production or no bench production.. . . SAN ANTONIO SPURS BENCH. C-

Next: Game Recap: Spurs vs. Nuggets