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Spurs drop Sixers to 0-10

San Antonio’s three stars saw limited playing time, saving their strength for the Cavs tomorrow.

The Spurs' Kyle Anderson shoots around 76ers defender Nerlens Noel during the second half. (Eric Gay/AP)
The Spurs' Kyle Anderson shoots around 76ers defender Nerlens Noel during the second half. (Eric Gay/AP)Read more

SAN ANTONIO - The San Antonio Spurs will face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow night in one of the NBA's most anticipated early season matchups.

So it would have been understandable if the defending world champs had their eyes set a little bit past the winless Sixers going into last night's game at the AT&T Center.

Yeah, and the Green Bay Packers overlooked the Eagles.

Like the home team Sunday at Lambeau, the Spurs took command early, building a 17-point lead after the first quarter with their precision offense while methodically wearing down the young Sixers, who dropped their 10th straight game to open the season. With the 100-75 victory, San Antonio has now won 11 straight at home against the Sixers and 27 of the last 28.

The Spurs' motto is "good to great" when it comes to open shots. They cut with purpose, pass with reason and go about their business in the way you'd expect an aged team that has had the success they have. Last night they dealt 27 assists on 36 baskets.

The Sixers are the complete opposite, not knowing where the offense is coming from, where passes may end up and who is throwing them or receiving them.

"I tell our young guys to just go play," said Brett Brown. "Go hard, go play, not worry about making mistakes at times. You hear me talk about ready, fire, aim. There's a reckless abandon that this natural young group of athletes has, and I need to encourage that in many ways and not corral it. That comes with a lot of danger to it - turnovers, quick, bad shots. But I prefer to go down kicking and screaming than play scared or tentative."

Michael Carter-Williams collected 16 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Sixers, while Luc Mbah a Moute added 13 points and Henry Sims had nine points and eight rebounds.

Sixers' Nerlens Noel finished with 4 points.

"I didn't play well at all," he said. "I didn't finish around the basket. I didn't rebound well enough. It's on me. I'm capable of doing a lot more than I'm doing."

Coaching at the place he called home for 12 seasons as part of the San Antonio organization, Brown again got a hard effort from his players but really never had a chance. Though Spurs stars Tim Duncan (10 points, nine rebounds), Tony Parker (five points and assists) and Manu Ginobili (two points) didn't play a load of minutes (about 46 combined), they excelled when needed. In the third, after the Sixers pulled to within nine at 46-37, San Antonio quickly turned from good to great, scoring 14 of the game's next 16 points in a seemingly effortless run.

With the game secured, coach Gregg Popovich perhaps did start looking toward tomorrow's matchup, as none of The Big Three came off the bench in the fourth.

Matt Bonner scored a season-high 18 points for the Spurs (6-4), whie Cory Joseph had 14 and Aron Baynes 12.

Same starters, for now

For the second straight game, Brett Brown rolled out a starting lineup of Tony Wroten, Hollis Thompson, Luc Mbah a Moute, Brandon Davies and Henry Sims. Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams, both freshly back from injuries, still came off the bench against the Spurs. That could be changing soon as the Sixers host Boston tomorrow and the Phoenix Suns on Friday.

He also threw swingman Robert Covington into the game, with all of one practice and an hour shootaround with the team under his belt. Covington scored six points in close to 17 minutes of play.

"It's like, 'Welcome, get in the game,' " said Brown. "For me it's about keeping his package simple where his brain is not swirling. I don't want to complicate it. That's who we are. It's a fluid, fluid, fluid program. People here don't need great introductions or formal occasions to warrant getting on the court. They come in and we put them in and we try to figure stuff out quite quickly."

The team also got back guard Alexey Shved, who had missed two games with a sore lower back.