San Antonio Spurs News Latest: Tim Duncan Goes Scoreless for First Time in Career
Tim Duncan will go down as one of the most dominating and accomplished power forwards in the history of the league. But just like all other greats ahead of him, there will always be career highs and lows. In San Antonio's 121-103 victory against the Houston Rockets on Saturday, the Spurs great achieved a rather uncomforting feat — going scoreless for the very first time in his career.
It's kind of unfair to think of him as a player already out of his prime. That's probably the reason why he no longer could dominate the paint the way he used to. However, the fact is once Duncan is out of that shaded lane, the Spurs are no longer the same team, enough said.
But the way it looks, San Antonio is definitely on a roll this season, having not lost a single game at home, including this one. While Duncan just couldn't buy a bucket, the Spurs were just too good for the struggling Rockets.
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Danny Green finally breaks out of his shooting miseries by converting six three pointers (season high), finishing with 18 points.
Duncan's zero-point night officially snapped his streak of 1,359 games where he scored at least a point. That streak is the longest to begin a career. He tops an elite list made up of Karl Malone (1,356), Hakeem Olajuwon (1,089), Elvin Hayes (1,084), and Michael Jordan (1,072).
But then again, there was no need for him to score in this game. Aside from Green, newly acquired big man LaMarcus Aldridge produced 24 points while budding superstar Kawhi Leonard added 22. The Spurs frontline seemed to have no problem carrying the scoring load against the defensive-minded frontcourt of Houston, led by Clint Capela and center Dwight Howard.
Howard led Houston with a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds, including four blocks. Fellow star James Harden had 17 points on a quiet night.
