DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 and 24 points, respectively, on 20-of-25 combined shooting in just three quarters of play at the visiting San Antonio Spurs rolled to an easy 120-90 win over the hapless Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
San Antonio has won four of its past five games and improved its road record to 2-1 for the young season.
DeRozan, the key player received by the Spurs in the trade with Toronto for Kawhi Leonard, did the majority of his damage over the first two quarters when he scored 20 of his points.
Aldridge took over in the third, reeling off 16 of his total over those 12 minutes as San Antonio led by as many as 32 in the late going, even with most of its starters on the bench.
Marco Belinelli added 14 for the Spurs while Rudy Gay hit for 12 as San Antonio shot a season-best 55 percent from the floor despite canning just 4 of 18 3-point attempts.
TJ Warren led the Suns with 21 points, with Mikal Bridges scoring 16 points, Trevor Ariza hitting for 14 and Deandre Ayton adding 13 points. The loss was the sixth straight for Phoenix, which was without star guard Devin Booker (hamstring) for the third consecutive game.
The Spurs set the tone for their win in the opening quarter, bouncing away from an 8-4 deficit early on by scoring 24 of the period's final 31 points including the last 11 to take a 28-15 lead after 12 minutes.
San Antonio kept its foot on the pedal for most of the second quarter, running out to a 60-29 lead on a Belinelli 3-pointer with 2:13 to play in the half. But Phoenix finally showed some life over the final two minutes, ending the second period with a 10-0 run to pull back to within 60-39 at intermission.
DeRozan led all scorers in the half with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, as San Antonio outshot the Suns 59 percent-32 percent over the first two quarters.
Ariza paced Phoenix with 12 points at the break with Bridges adding nine on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting half off the bench.
San Antonio heads home for its first back-to-back of the season, on Saturday against New Orleans and Sunday versus Orlando. The Suns play their next four games at home, as the homestand continues with a Friday game against Toronto.
--Field Level Media
San Antonio | Phoenix | |
DeMar DeRozan 25 | Scoring | TJ Warren 21 |
Bryn Forbes 7 | Assists | Elie Okobo 5 |
Pau Gasol 9 | Rebounds | Deandre Ayton 8 |
DeMar DeRozan 5 | Free Throws Made | Trevor Ariza 4 |
Quincy Pondexter 2 | Steals | De'Anthony Melton 3 |
Pau Gasol 3 | Blocks | Josh Jackson 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
San Antonio | 120 | 55.4 | 4-18 | 24-26 | 24 | 47 | 6 | 7 | 14 |
Phoenix | 90 | 38.9 | 6-24 | 14-18 | 21 | 35 | 3 | 10 | 15 |