Spurs defeat Suns on the road; Josh Smith has terrific showing.

Pau Gasol barely missed any rebounds in Phoenix

Pau Gasol corralled 16 rebounds, and the Spurs went on a blistering 41-24 scoring advantage in the final period, after the Suns played a hard game throughout and held the lead for most of it. The crowd was disappointed and one has to wonder how demoralized the Suns may be after this loss.

The lone highlight was the rookie, Josh Jackson, who finished with 15 points and 7 assists, showing off his hustle. Eric Bledsoe had 14 points and 11 assists, Alex Len had 16 rebounds (like Gasol) and 12 points, with Tyson Chandler grabbing 11 himself. Microwave scorer, Devin Booker, had Kawhi Leonard harassing him in this game, but still managed 17 points and 5 assists on 7-15 shooting.

Patty Mills finished with 27 points, scorching the Suns in the 4th quarter with his 3PT shooting (tying SA's record again with 9 made from deep). Kawhi had 18 points. But the story of the night was the resurgence of Josh "J-Smoove" Smith, who came in starving for some action and made the most of Rudy Gay's bad shooting night. Smoove finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, not to mention 4 blocks, 2 steals and 3 assists. It was like his old "Hawks" days tonight for Smith, pleasing Popovich.

The Spurs bench also crushed Phoenix, 68-40. Jeremy Lamb showed promise with 16 points in the first half. Joffrey Lauvergne chipped in 10 points to relieve Gasol early due to foul trouble. Tony Parker contributed 8 points and 5 assists before Mills' firestorm began. The Spurs led by 19 points in the 4th quarter, just blitzing Phoenix and winning 127-112 on the road of all things.