SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs clinched an NBA-record 20th consecutive winning season with their 42nd victory on Monday and will try to keep the momentum going into the All-Star break when they visit the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
The Spurs are 3-2 on their eight-game road trip, which continues after the break, and bounced back from a loss at New York with Monday's triumph at Indiana.
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San Antonio once again leaned on star small forward Kawhi Leonard on Monday, and he responded with his fourth straight game of 30 points or more and made the key defensive play by stealing the ball from Paul George in the final minute.
"I was just going off of instinct really," Leonard told reporters. "I couldn't stay on the floor and let him dribble up the court and make something happen."
The Magic snapped a four-game slide on Monday and looked like a completely different team while battling the Miami Heat to a 116-107 triumph.
Orlando made a move to shake things up on Tuesday when it dealt forward Serge Ibaka (15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds) to the Toronto Raptors for small forward Terrence Ross (10.4 points) and a 2017 first-round pick.
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ABOUT THE SPURS (42-13): Leonard sat out the opener of the road trip at Memphis on Feb. 6 and watched his team manage 74 points in a loss before taking over the offense upon his return and averaging 33 points in the last four games. Leonard went 13-of-23 from the field on Monday in the second night of a back-to-back as San Antonio fought off the fatigue and pulled out the win.
"We made a few shots down the stretch, and it usually comes down to putting the ball in the hole as long as you play some decent defense along the way," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "It was a heck of a competitive game. ... I'm obviously thrilled with the win on the road. It could've gone either way."
ABOUT THE MAGIC (21-36): Orlando was coming off a terrible 112-80 loss at Dallas on dropped three games by at least 24 points during the four-game slide. The Magic are hoping Monday's triumph is the beginning of a turn in the other direction as they begin a stretch of five straight at home on Wednesday.
"Momentum is a crazy thing in this league and one win can do that," Orlando coach Frank Vogel told reporters. "It stops the bleeding, stops the pain because it’s no fun losing in this league, particularly the other night the way we lost. Losing at the buzzer or in a blowout, neither way is fun."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Magic C Nikola Vucevic is 5-of-19 from the floor in the last two games.
2. Spurs PG Tony Parker scored 12 points on Monday after totaling two points in the previous two contests.
3. Orlando snapped a 10-game slide in the series with a 95-83 win at San Antonio on Nov. 29.