DENVER — Forward Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points, six blocked shots and five steals, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets 99-91 on Sunday night.
Forward Tim Duncan had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, who held off a late Denver rally for the win.
San Antonio lost two of its last three, including a home loss to the Lakers in overtime on Friday. The Spurs looked every bit the defending champions against Denver with a season-high 11 blocks and forcing the Nuggets into a season-high 21 turnovers.
Leonard was a major disruptive force, getting career highs in blocks and steals while also grabbing eight rebounds.
Guard Ty Lawson committed four turnovers in one of his poorest games in a while. He had six points and 10 assists despite suffering a laceration over his left eye when he collided with Spurs guard Manu Ginobili in the second quarter.
Guard Arron Afflalo led Denver with a season-high 31 points but had a game-high six turnovers. Center Timofey Mozgov had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Nuggets.
Still, Denver was in it late thanks to their defense. San Antonio led 76-66 but missed five straight shots as Denver crept closer. Nate Robinson’s layup midway through the fourth made it 77-72.
The Spurs’ lead hovered around five for the next four minutes before Ginobili hit a 3-pointer and guard Corey Joseph, starting for the injured starter Tony Parker, hit a fastbreak layup to push the lead to 94-84.
The Spurs took the lead for good in the second quarter when they held the Nuggets to 12 points on 5-for-18 shooting. Denver missed seven straight shots and went 4:23 without a point while San Antonio turned a one-point deficit into a 41-29 lead.
The Spurs led 45-34 at halftime.
The Spurs stretched the lead to 17 early in the third quarter before Denver made a run late in the period. A three-point play by Mozgov, a bucket by Afflalo and a 3-pointer from forward Darrell Arthur cut the Nuggets’ deficit to 67-59.
NOTES: The Spurs were without PG Tony Parker due to a mild left hamstring injury. Parker missed three games because of the same injury before returning in Friday’s loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. … Nuggets F Kenneth Faried missed Sunday’s game because of an ankle injury suffered in Saturday’s loss at Houston. … Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon was an All-America player at Colorado State. … Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said C JaVale McGee could miss “significant time” because of soreness around his surgically repaired left tibia. Shaw said the bone is fine but there is some weakness with the muscle surrounding the area. McGee has missed 10 of the last 11 games.