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The San Antonio Spurs stayed perfect on the rodeo road trip and extended their winning streak to eight games with their win over the Detroit Pistons last night.
It took a late comeback after the Spurs were up most of the game, and seven Spurs players scoring in double figures to dispatch of the Pistons.
It was another marquee night for Spurs forward Tim Duncan, who finished the game with 18 points, 13 rebounds and thre blocked shots. Duncan did the majority of his damage against second year phenom Greg Monroe, who was held to just single digits for the first time in 15 games.
It was Tony Parker (14 points, seven assists) though, who hit two late fourth-quarter floaters to give the Spurs the lead and the eventual win.
In Retrospect
In Paul Garcia’s game preview, he took a look at the Duncan vs. Monroe matchup and called it in Duncan’s favor hours before the game started.
Monroe is a solid big man for the future of the Pistons. He could have a tough night however defending a youthful looking Tim Duncan. Duncan is averaging 17.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game in the month of February. Even more bad news for the Pistons frontline, Duncan averages 20.5 points after two days of rest.
Quoteable
“Two old guys trying to get it done for their teams.”
-Pistons center Ben Wallace on him and Tim Duncan.
By the numbers
10 – combined points by Pistons starting big men Jason Maxiell and Monroe.
7 – players scoring in double figures for the Spurs.
24:48 – Minutes for Spurs guard Manu Ginobili in his second game back from injury.
2 – Spurs rank in the Western Conference after last night’s win.
Rookie Watch
Kawhi Leonard did his part to contain the Pistons’ perimeter scorers and finished the game with 11 points, four rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot in under 19 minutes of playing time. Cory Joseph did not play.
Fantasy Focus
Last night was Tiago Splitter’s fourth double-figure scoring night. The backup big man is averaging 13 points and five rebounds on the rodeo road trip. Splitter is consistently seeing 15-25 backup minutes each night and he’s probably a safe bet for your utility or one of your backup big positions in a deep league.
