San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Eight Spurs scored in double figures and a ninth was one point away as San Antonio cruised to a 123-97 victory over the overmatched Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Kawhi Leonard's 15 points led the balanced scoring attack, and Tony Parker added 11 points with eight assists and no turnovers for the Spurs, who bounced back from Thursday's overtime loss to Cleveland.
There was some bad news in the rout, as Manu Ginobili (right ankle sprain) and Aron Baynes (rib contusion) both exited early. Ginobili scored 11 points.
The extent of Ginobili's injury was not immediately known, but he was in obvious pain after rolling his ankle on the side of Gorgui Dieng's foot in the closing seconds of the third quarter.
The Timberwolves, who have dropped four in a row and eight of their last nine, have been dealing with their fair share of injuries and were without Nikola Pekovic, Ricky Rubio, Gary Neal and Kevin Garnett.
"It wasn't a fair fight," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. "Those guys were devastated by injuries."
Kevin Martin and Zach LaVine paced the squad with 19 and 18 points, respectively.
The Spurs won every quarter, as they took a 29-23 lead into the second frame and went into the break holding a healthy 60-50 cushion. They shot 55.8 percent from the field, 6-of-10 from 3-point range and scored 15 points off turnovers in the half.
They were somehow better in the third quarter, hitting 63.6 percent (14- of-22) of their shots and went ahead by as many as 33.
San Antonio wound up with season-high 38 assists on 49 baskets.
"They share the ball," Timberwolves guard Kevin Martin said of the defending champs. "That's one thing we can learn from them."
Game Notes
The Spurs swept the four-game season series and are 20-1 in the last 21 meetings as the host in this series ... San Antonio shot 58.3 percent overall ... Tim Duncan totaled 10 points, six rebounds, six assists and three blocks in the win.
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