SAN ANTONIO _ You knew the San Antonio Spurs were bound to get the upper hand Thursday night.
The 76ers were without two starters in Joel Embiid and Robert Covington and key reserves Nerlens Noel and Gerald Henderson. Meanwhile, the Spurs had a horrid shooting display before intermission.
But San Antonio shot better after halftime and beat the undermanned Sixers, 102-86, in Brett Brown's homecoming Thursday night at the AT&T Center.
The loss dropped the Sixers to 18-31 and extended their losing streak against the Spurs (38-11) to 11 games. It was their 13th consecutive loss to San Antonio in its home arena.
The Sixers had a 53-48 halftime lead thanks in large part to the Spurs shooting just 35.4 percent. However, San Antonio opened the second half on an 18-8 run to take a 66-61 lead with 5 minutes, 4 seconds left in the third quarter. The Spurs never looked back.
Kawhi Leonard paced the Spurs with 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocked shots. He was one of seven double-digit scorers for San Antonio.
Ersan Ilyasova finished with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers. Dario Saric, who started at small forward in place of Covington, added 14 points and nine rebounds.
Covington missed his second consecutive game with a bruised right hand. Noel was sidelined with an upper respiratory infection, while Embiid sat out his third straight game with a bone bruise in his left knee. He has been sidelined in five of the last six games. Henderson was listed as a "DNP _ coach's decision." However, he has been battling left hip soreness the entire season.
Sixers associate head coach Jim O'Brien was not on the bench because of the flu.
On this night, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had nothing but great things to say about his close friend and former assistant Brown, the most positive person he knows.
He praised Brown for the coaching job he's done with the Sixers one season after admitting that he couldn't hold Brown's job for longer than a month.
"As I mentioned before the winning streak, in the past years, there's nobody that can do the job that he's doing, considering the situation that it has been," Popovich said. "His demeanor and his ability to stay positive and just teach and get satisfaction out of watching young player absorb things are beyond my comprehension."
But the Spurs coach said he is not surprised that Brown is turning the Sixers around.
Popovich is well aware that the Sixers posted a 10-5 record in January. He's also aware that Philadelphia is abuzz with Sixers mania.
"That's tough to do," Popovich said. "Philly is tough to get excited."
But he pointed out that Brown is a consummate teacher and an upbeat individual, which have helped the Sixers coach turn things around after going 47-199 in his first three seasons.
"I couldn't be more thrilled," Popovich said. "All of a sudden, people start to think maybe this guy can coach. But he was already coaching.
"But it's easier for people like me to coach Tim Duncan. That makes you look pretty good. But at this level you have to have a level of talent to match everybody else. When you don't, you pay the price."
Brown won four NBA championship rings as an assistant with San Antonio before taking the Sixers' coaching job in August 2013.
The Sixers arrived in the early hours Thursday morning after a Wednesday night game in Dallas against the Mavericks.
Brown was flooded with memories as the team bus drove through the city and ended up at the team hotel.
"I raised my children here," he said. "I spent 12 years here. And you go through the memories of watching that River Walk be swamped with people and championship parades."
Early Thursday, Brown took a long walk with close friend and Spurs general manager R.C. Buford on that same River Walk.
Friendships developed within the Spurs organization and the memories and experiences are lasting.
"And they hit you hard when you only come back here once a year," Brown said.
