The San Antonio Spurs (44 - 25) routed the Atlanta Hawks (53 - 17) 114 - 95 on Sunday at the Philips Arena. The Spurs broke the game open with a 25 - 8 run to end the first half and things got worse from there for the Hawks. Coach Mike Budenholzer, a Greg Popovich protege, was ejected early in the third quarter with the Hawks down 25. Atlanta was looking to turn things around after a subpar end to its road trip, but its recent struggles traveled home to the Philips Arena. The Hawks never came within 15 points of the Spurs in the fourth as they dropped their season - high third straight game. San Antonio has now won three straight and is now within striking distance of the third seed in the West after a lackluster February had many questioning this team's viability in the playoffs. Kawhi Leonard had another strong outing with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists to go with four steals. Boris Diaw had a big fourth quarter and finished with 17 points on 8 - of - 10 shooting off the bench. The Spurs have a tough schedule over the next week with two games against the Mavericks along with matchups against the Thunder and Grizzlies. Atlanta needs to regroup after being routed in two of its last three games. Paul Millsap tried to will his team to a comeback in the third quarter, but the Spurs never let the Hawks get too close. Millsap finished with 22 points and seven rebounds. Kyle Korver returned to the lineup after missing the last three games with a broken nose. He posted six points and three rebounds but also had five turnovers. The Hawks will have the next two days off before traveling to Orlando to take on the Magic on Wednesday.
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 "PlayerStat(G,'Paul Millsap') has 22 Assists ,has 7 Defensive rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Kyle Korver') has 3 Assists ,has 3 Defensive rebounds ,has 6 3-pointers attempted ,has 3 Field goals attempted ,has 5 Field goals made ."]