Spurs struggle early, rise up over Pelicans to win 97-90.

Sharpshooter Bryn Forbes hit a deep dagger late.

The Pelicans put a whooping on the Spurs early, going up by 8 after one quarter and leading by 11 at halftime. Leave it to the Spurs to recuperate and then retaliate, throwing down blow for blow in a brief brawl before blitzing past the home team in the Big Easy. N'awlins would fight back, including some feisty defense by Rajon Rondo on Patty Mills, but they would fall short to the Spurs, forced to watch Kawhi Leonard (23 points) drain a cold-blooded long 3PTer in isolation that all but sealed the outcome.

Preceding this was a tough matchup problem for the Spurs, pulling Rudy Gay early and swapping in Pau Gasol to better contend size for size against DeMarcus Cousins. Anthony Davis would have 25 points to lead the Pelicans, and Cousins would only have 15 points in the outing despite some strong plays to keep the early lead.

Pau Gasol matched Cousins with 15 points, drawing fouls and also showing off his soft touch from beyond. Rudy Gay also splashed home a 3PTer, as did Patty Mills here and there. Tony Parker even had a decent showing here for San Antonio in a feelgood, resilient road effort culminating in an 11-0 run in the 3rd quarter to set the tone for the final period. The Spurs pulled away with solid defense and playmaking.

The Spurs now move to 15-3, topping the western conference so far.

Spurs fly past Hawks, 105-111.

After a tight first quarter, the Spurs burst out to a sizable lead and the shooting display only improved from there, with Patty Mills and Kawhi Leonard making some nice long shots as well as Mario Hezonja. Iman Shumpert got the team going first, and then it was some fury shown by Jeremy Lamb's athleticism that kept the lead, shooting 53% at halftime as a team. The 42-57 advantage was capped off by Kawhi Leonard's 16 points on 6-7 shooting and a shot from just past the half-court line with .6 left on the clock.

Atlanta would come alive in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 10 points and then getting within six, showing talent from long range due to Ilyasova, but it was a clutch 3PTer combo by Mills and Leonard that sealed the win.

Both teams made 11 shots from deep, but the Spurs defense was the key factor here, as Biyombo swatted the ball this way and elsewhere when Atlanta went for the basket down low. Kawhi sleepwalked to 29 points on 11/15 shooting (73%, and 4/6 from 3PT--66%) with 8 rebounds and 6 steals. Mario Hezonja had the "magic" touch tonight: he had 18 points on 7/9 shooting, making 4 shots from deep also. Patty Mills had 13 points and 9 assists, making a trio of threes.

Bismack Biyombo dominated the paint with 14 rebounds and a refreshing 12 points with 4 blocks. Pau Gasol had a solid 10 points with 8 rebounds. Jeremy Lamb's early burst stopped at 19 points and Rudy Gay had flashes for 9 points. Kyle O'Quinn finished with 6 points and 5 rebounds and a block.

In the loss, Dennis Shroder had 16 points with 7 assists, former Spur Dewayne Dedmon had 11 points with 8 rebounds. Malcolm Delaney had 11 points, and Ersan Ilyasova had 15 points with 7 rebounds. Kent Bazemore hit a pair of nice shots from long range, but had just 8 points on 3/9 shooting overall.