SAN ANTONIO -- It's difficult enough for most NBA teams to deal with San Antonio's starting five, a group that features a pair of erstwhile all-stars in Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge. But when the Spurs' bench gets rolling, too, there's no way to slow them down, a fact that the Charlotte Hornets learned the hard way on Saturday.

Rookie reserve forward Davis Bertans had a career-high 21 points as the Spurs posted their third straight victory and seventh in eight outings with a 102-85 victory over Charlotte at the AT&T Center.

The game was tied at 60 before Bertans, who averages 2.6 points in 9.6 minutes per game, caught fire by scoring eight of San Antonio's 10 points in a three-minute stretch (including a four-point play and another 3-pointer) that helped stake the Spurs to a 73-64 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Dewayne Dedmon added 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, while reserve guard Patty Mills hit for 13 points for the Spurs as San Antonio's second and third units outscored Charlotte's bench players 55-22.

"Of course I'm happy that the shot went in -- most of them were wide-open looks that I'm used to shooting," Bertans said. "Charlotte was trying to lock up Aldridge and double-team him so it just opened up the 3-point line for everyone else and he did a great job of finding other players."

Leonard finished with 19 in the win while Aldridge had 15 points (12 of those in the second half) and pulled down 11 rebounds in what amounted to a supporting role for San Antonio (30-7).

"Our defense in the second half was wonderful -- Charlotte only scored 14 points in the third quarter and 35 in the second half," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "That was the whole key. We stepped it up defensively and the ball moved."

Kemba Walker led the Hornets (20-18) with 18 points while Jeremy Lamb added 13. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist hit for 12, Marvin Williams scored 11 and Roy Hibbert pumped in 10 off the bench for Charlotte, which has lost four of its past five games.

The Hornets were without starting guard Nicolas Batum, who suffered a hyperextended right knee Thursday against the Pistons. The team confirmed the injury diagnosis during an MRI exam on Friday. There was no structural damage found.

The game featured 13 ties and 20 lead changes, though it is difficult to tell from the final score.

"San Antonio's defense was really good and we were right there until the end of the third but when we broke the lineup we really got drilled," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. "We have to concentrate on us putting 48 minutes together. We did a lot of good things tonight but if we are going to play nine of 10 guys then everyone has to do their part. It's a competitiveness thing and it's a toughness thing -- we have to have every one play well."

Charlotte got an early boost from Walker's seven first-quarter points and led 22-17 with 2:14 to play in the period. But the Spurs got a rim-rocking dunk off an inbounds pass by Bertans, a jumper from Mills and a 3-pointer from Manu Ginobili to pull into a 24-24 tie after 12 minutes of play.

Mills' 3-pointer at the 2:40 mark of the second quarter gave San Antonio a short-lived, three-point lead, at 45-42, before the Hornets' Williams answered with a long-distance shot of his own to tie the game at 45. Walker's 3-pointer while being fouled with 24.3 seconds remaining in the half pushed Charlotte back into a 50-47 lead at intermission.

Leonard's 15 points led all scorers in the first half while Walker's 10 paced the Hornets. Charlotte outshot the Spurs 48.7 percent to 38.8 percent in the first 24 minutes and outrebounded San Antonio 24-20, but the Hornets' seven turnovers led to eight points for the Spurs.

Through the first three quarters, San Antonio's bench had outscored Charlotte's reserves 34-16.

The Spurs' reserves expanded the lead to 18 points, at 86-68, on a Jonathan Simmons 3-pointer (off an assists from Bertans) at the 8:58 mark and cruised to the finish line.

"That's typical Spurs for you; that's what they do," Walker said. We played pretty well the whole game, played some good defense and they missed some shots. Then at some point in the game the just catch fire. Playing in spurts has been killing us."

NOTES: San Antonio beat the Hornets 119-114 when the two teams met on Nov. 23 at Spectrum Center. ... The Spurs own a nine-game home win-streak against Charlotte dating back to Nov. 15, 2006 and have won 38 of the 53 games the teams have played all-time. ... Former Spurs C David Robinson blocked 11 shots at Charlotte on Feb. 2, 1990, setting a record for most blocks in a game by a Hornets' opponent. ... Former F Kelly Tripuka became the first player in Hornets history to score 30-plus points in a game when he went for 31 against San Antonio on Nov. 19, 1988. Charlotte won the game, 107-105, to post the first road victory in franchise history. ... Hornets assistant coach Bob Weiss was the head coach of the Spurs from 1986-1988.