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SAN ANTONIO – Danny Green scored 21 points, including 6-for-6 shooting on 3-pointers, and the San Antonio Spurs cruised to a 123-93 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night after losing Tiago Splitter to a right calf injury during a strong start.
Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and Aron Baynes added 18 points in 19 minutes for San Antonio, which has won six in a row.
Danilo Galinari scored 20 points to lead Denver and Jameer Nelson added 14. The Nuggets trailed by as many as 37 points despite shooting 47 percent from the field.
The Spurs (50-26) extended their league record of consecutive 50-win seasons to 16 in a row. San Antonio moved into a tie with the Los Angeles Clippers for fifth in the Western Conference.
The Spurs led 45-25 after one quarter for their most in any period this season and just five shy of the league record for the opening quarter. San Antonio shot 79 percent from the field in the first quarter, including going 4-for-5 on 3s.
But Splitter’s calf injury could be trouble for the Spurs, who struggled without the low-post scoring and fluid passing the starting center provides. They were 14-7 when missed over a month earlier in the season due to an injured right calf. Splitter’s return to the starting lineup sparked the team’s current run of 16 wins in 19 games.
Splitter exited with 5:33 remaining in the first quarter, departing immediately for the locker room with the team’s trainer. His status was uncertain.
Splitter was key to the team’s early run with seven points and two rebounds on 3-for-4 shooting.
The Spurs made nine of their first 10 shots, including two 3-pointers by Green. Their only miss came when Ty Lawson blocked Tony Parker’s runner in the lane.
The run included all five San Antonio starters touching the ball in a matter of seconds. The possession started with Tim Duncan to Parker to Splitter, who whipped an underhanded pass in the paint from his waist to Leonard in the left corner and was quickly tossed to Green for an open 3-pointer.
Leonard shot 7-for-9 while scoring 15 points in the first quarter, receiving a huge ovation when he exited with 2 minutes left in the period.
