Spurs uses depth to fend off Kings

This article is cross posted at Spurs World.

Playing their fifth game in six nights, the San Antonio Spurs was supposed to be a tired team.

However, with the team’s depth, and coach Gregg Popovich able to rest some of his key players during the five-game stretch, the Spurs hold off a hard fighting Sacramento Kings squad.

Manu Ginobili scored 20 points and added five assists off the bench, and rookie Kawhi Leonard continues to impress, finishing with 19 points and nine boards on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, and the Spurs beat the Kings 117-112 on Wednesday night for their sixth straight victory.

Tim Duncan added 18 points and eight rebounds, Gary Neal had 13 points, Tony Parker finished with 10 points and 10 assists and Stephen Jackson had eight points, three rebounds and one steal for San Antonio.

Isaiah Thomas scored a career-high 28 points and had 10 assists for Sacramento, DeMarcus Cousins added 25 points and 11 rebounds, Marcus Thornton scored 18 points, and Jason Thompson had 15 points in a losing cause.

Tiago Splitter, who played for the first time since March 21, had seven points and six rebounds for the Spurs but battled early foul trouble.

Newly acquired guard Patrick Mills finished with seven points in just six minutes of action for San Antonio.

Since starting the season losing 8-of-10 on the road, the Spurs have been difficult to beat away from home. The victory was their 13th in 15 games and their seventh consecutive victory overall in Sacramento.

Both teams shot well from the field, San Antonio made 49-of-91 (53.8 percent) of their shots, while Sacramento hit 47-of-86 (54.7 percent) of their attempts.

However, the Spurs went 10-of-20 (50 percent) from beyond the arc compared to just 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) by the Kings.

San Antonio also outrebounded Sacramento 42-34.

The Kings have lost four straight games and never led throughout the game.

The Spurs will host the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night at AT&T Center.