San Antonio flies to franchise-best start

SAN ANTONIO - Reuters

San Antonio Spurs have claimed their fourth consecutive victory in the National Basketball Association, setting the best start in the team’s history. EPA photo

The four-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs stormed to a franchise-best 4-0 start to the season after routing the Indiana Pacers 101-79 on Nov. 5.

Reserve Gary Neal led five Spurs in double figures with 17 points, while Tim Duncan got a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to lift the team to the win.

Despite winning four NBA championships between 1999 and 2007, the Spurs had never won their first four regular season games. “It’s just a stat, it’s not that important in the long term,” San Antonio veteran Manu Ginobili told reporters. “At this point, we’re enjoying it.”

San Antonio grabbed an eight-point lead after the first quarter before scoring the first 11 points of the second to push their advantage to 37-18.

The visiting Pacers (2-2) never fully recovered, trimming the deficit to nine at halftime only to be pegged back again in the second half.

George Hill and Paul George had 15 and 14 points respectively. The Pacers, who made a strong run to the second round of the playoffs last season, are off to a tough start and playing without leading scorer Danny Granger who is out with a left knee injury.

“Our defense was very good tonight,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “We caught a break tonight. Without (Granger) their team loses spacing.”

The San Antonio Spurs’ bench scored 57 points and the team moved the ball around to the tune of 25 assists.