SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs own the second-longest home court winning streak in NBA history and look to add to the total when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
San Antonio is 36-0 at home this season and has won 45 straight dating back to last season as Wednesday's 112-88 rout of Miami allowed the Spurs to pass the Chicago Bulls (44 over two seasons, ending in 1996).
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All-Star small forward Kawhi Leonard matched his career high of 32 points against Miami but suffered a bruised quadriceps and it appears he will won't be available on Friday.
"He had to come out when he did because it was a good contusion and it was just stiff," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said afterward. "It wouldn't work. To put him back in wouldn't have made any sense."
The Grizzlies have lost five of their last seven games, including a demoralizing 107-100 road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. Power forward Zach Randolph recently returned from a knee injury and he sprained his right ankle against the Lakers but is expected to play against San Antonio.
TV: 7:30 p.m. CT, FSN Southwest
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (41-31): Guard Tony Allen has picked up his scoring due to the injury issues plaguing the squad and he made all 12 of his field-goal attempts and scored a season-best 27 points in the victory over the Lakers. The defensive-minded veteran has scored in double digits in five consecutive games and has recorded three 20-point efforts in March after previously not reaching 20 points since the 2011-12 campaign.
"Some nights are better than others, but that ain't my mode coming into the game, trying to score," Allen told reporters. "If the opportunity comes, I'm going to take advantage. But for the most part, I’m a glue guy trying to fill in the gap."
ABOUT THE SPURS (60-11): San Antonio has reached 60 victories for the sixth time in franchise history and needs four more wins to set the franchise record. The Spurs have won seven of eight games after routing the Heat and Leonard did his damage on 21 shots in just 24 minutes of action.
"As time goes on, he's learning how and understanding how to feel his oats and channel it wisely," Popovich told reporters.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Spurs are 2-0 against the Grizzlies this season, winning by an average of 15 points.
2. San Antonio PF LaMarcus Aldridge had just eight points against Miami after scoring in double digits in each of his previous 12 games.
3. Memphis SF Lance Stephenson is averaging 19.7 points over the past seven games.