Kawhi's First Start

David J. Phillip - AP

    Kawhi Leonard had his first start of the season over Gary Neal, as the Spurs snap their 2-loss streak defeating the Houston Rockets 95-101. He played well, putting up 11 points and grabbing 8 boards during his 37:44 minutes of PT. The game was close as it went into overtime, the Spurs’ age started to show. In OT, Tim Duncan missed a few shots that he would’ve drained a few years back. He missed 2 free throws in a row and a wide-open 18-foot jumper that were go-ahead opportunities. Kawhi is also playing phenomenal defense while guarding the best scorer on the team, Kevin Martin, coming up with a key stop late in the fourth. He also came up with a huge defensive board with 11.3 seconds left in OT and was fouled immediately. He went to the line where he scored 1 of 2 free throws to put the Spurs up 95-99, a two-position game. Looks like the Spurs have a new starting 5, for now.

-GC