The San Antonio Spurs (26 - 6) defeated the Denver Nuggets (12 - 18) 101 - 86 on Saturday. The Spurs were able to bounce back from a tough Christmas Day loss to the Houston Rockets with an efficient performance. San Antonio was able to rest veterans Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli and still come away with a relatively comfortable win, in large part due to the contributions of a pair of their top free - agent acquisitions. Former Pacers forward David West showed exactly why he was brought to the Spurs by filling in admirably for Duncan, tallying 10 points, six assists, four rebounds, four blocks and a steal. His outstanding defense helped to stymie Denver down low, and LaMarcus Aldridge helped to complete that equation with a productive night of his own. The former Portland standout came within a rebound of a double - double, posting 12 points, nine boards and three blocks. Denver was once again playing without starters Emmanuel Mudiay and Danilo Gallinari, and replacements Jameer Nelson (four points) and Kostas Papanikolaou (two points) particularly underwhelmed. Only one starter was able to post double - digit scoring, and only a 10 - point total at that, courtesy of Gary Harris. Joffrey Lauvergne and Kenneth Faried were next in line with nine and eight points, respectively, but a major chunk of Denver's offense came from the bench. Will Barton made his typically solid contributions, managing 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal, while Nikola Jokic posted his second - best scoring total of the season with 22 points. The center also added seven rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal over an outstanding 26 minutes of action. It was notably Jokic's fourth straight double - digit scoring game, and it will be interesting to see how coach Mike Malone will structure his playing time rotation in the frontcourt upon the return of Jusuf Nurkic from injury. The Nuggets fell to 12 - 18 and currently reside in third place in the Western Conference's Northwest Division. They head to Oklahoma City for a Sunday showdown with the Thunder. In addition to West's and Aldridge's strong outings, San Antonio was unsurprisingly led in scoring by Kawhi Leonard, who managed 20 points and added five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Tony Parker poured in 13 points, while adding four assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals. Veteran Boris Diaw, receiving some extra run due to Duncan's rest day, equaled season highs in both minutes (25) and points (16) to pace the San Antonio reserves. The Spurs improved to 26 - 6 and sit atop the Western Conference's Southwest Division. They remain home to face Minnesota on Monday.
["TeamStat(G,'Spurs') has 6 Losses ,has 101 Total points ,has 20 Points in 3rd quarter ,has 25 Points in 4th quarter ,has 26 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Nuggets') has 18 Losses ,has 86 Total points ,has 12 Points in 3rd quarter ."]