By Jeff McDonald
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – An hour before tipoff at Power Balance Pavilion on Wednesday, Spurs center Tiago Splitter went through a series of exercises with team strength coach Matt Herring.
The object was to test Splitter’s balky back, which had kept him out of four consecutive games. After a workout that was heavy on sweat but not on tears, Splitter pronounced himself good to go.
“Everything’s in place,” Splitter said. “I feel good now.”
The same might be said of the team that signs his paychecks.
Playing with a full deck for the first time in 11 days, the Spurs used their prodigious depth to outlast Sacramento, 117-112, extending the NBA’s longest active winning streak to six.
Having endured their most grueling stretch of the lockout-sardined season, adding five wins to the ledger in six nights, the Spurs now have a chance to catch their breath.
Wednesday, the Spurs’ youngest set of legs helped get them over the top.
Kawhi Leonard, a 20-year-old rookie small forward apparently too young to tire, had 19 points and nine rebounds, and supplied enough energy to power the whole of northern California.
“I just try to do what I can to contribute and bring energy,” Leonard said.
It was also another big night for the Spurs’ venerable Big Three, with Manu Ginobili scoring 20 points, Tim Duncan adding 18 points and eight rebounds and Tony Parker providing a 10-point, 10-assist double-double.
Heading into the five-game gauntlet, the Spurs (35-14) couldn’t have envisioned a sweep. Overall, the Spurs have won nine of their last 10, and 13 of their last 15 on the road.
“This is as deep as I’ve ever had a team here,” said Duncan, in his 15th season, “and we’re using everybody possible.
Wednesday, the Spurs got key first-half contributions from players who, either by age or inactivity, were less affected by the compressed schedule.
Leonard was a sparkplug, offering active minutes on both ends. Splitter had seven points and six rebounds in the first half. Even backup point guard Patrick Mills, playing his second game since joining the team, got to the act with seven points in six minutes.
In the first quarter, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich deployed 11 players. Nine of them scored.
“I don’t think we’d be hanging in like are now last year, with this kind of schedule,” Popovich said. “We didn’t have this kind of depth.”
Behind 28 points from Isaiah Thomas and 25 from DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings (17-33) hung around, though never led. Each time Sacramento would sneak within striking distance, however, the Spurs had an answer.
After a Thomas 3-pointer brought Sacramento within one again midway through the fourth, Gary Neal found Parker for a layup. That sparked a 15-6 run that put the Spurs ahead by 10 with 2:18 to go.
“Down the stretch in the fourth quarter, our experience probably showed,” Popovich said.
For Popovich, the quest over the season’s jam-packed final month is to somehow balance the need to whip his team into playoff shape with the need to keep older players fresh.
“There’s no formula for it,” Popovich said. “You just do the best you can.”
But first for the Spurs, some downtime. And perhaps a nap.
They play just once in the next four nights, Saturday at home against Indiana. Even so, Popovich anticipates several short-handed nights between now and the postseason.
“You just roll with whoever is available,” Popovich said. “There’s no other choice.”
Wednesday night in Sacramento, for the first time in a while, that meant everyone.
jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN
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Spurs 117, Kings 112: March 28, 2012
San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker, left, and Kawhi Leonard center, question official Mike Callahan about a foul call during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, March 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (AP)
Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, center, tries to pull down a rebound against San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, March 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs forward Manu Ginobili, of Argentina, left, and Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans scramble for the ball during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, March 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs’ DeJuan Blair, left, goes to the basket against Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, March 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs forward Manu Ginobili, of Argentina, left, leans in for the layup past Sacramento Kings’ Donte Greene, center, and Chuck Hayes during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, March 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (AP)
Sacramento Kings guard Marcus Thornton, left, is fouled by San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, March 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, left, goes to the basket against Sacramento Kings forward Jason Thompson during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, March 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan, right, leans around Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins to make a pass during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, March 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (AP)
