Philadelphia 76ers' K.J. McDaniels walks the court during the final minute of a game against the San Antonio SpursMatt Slocum/The Associated Press
The Spurs didn't have Tim Duncan or Tony Parker, and that gave Kawhi Leonard a chance to shine.
Leonard scored 26 points and had a crucial three-point play in the final minute to help the San Antonio Spurs defeat the winless 76ers 109-103, extending Philadelphia's franchise-worst losing streak at the start of the season to 0-17.
"I try to assert myself every night but tonight there were a lot of shots to shoot," Leonard said.
The Spurs (13-4) played without stars Duncan (rest) and Parker (shoulder). Even without the duo's more than 31 points per game, San Antonio had little trouble dispatching Philadelphia. Aron Baynes scored 15 points and Manu Ginobili and Cory Joseph each added 14 for San Antonio, which won its eighth straight. Leonard also had 10 rebounds while tying a career high in points.
Leonard scored 20-plus points for the fourth time this season after doing it three times all of last season.
"We're trying to loosen up a bit and give him more of a green light," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said.
Michael Carter-Williams had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Alexey Shved added 19 points for Philadelphia.
The 76ers also were short-handed, as leading scorer Tony Wroten (knee) missed his second straight game and rookie first-round pick Nerlens Noel (hip) sat after getting injured in Sunday's practice.
Philadelphia coach Brett Brown was surprised Noel, who is day-to-day, pulled himself out after warming up.
"It kind of surprised me he didn't play," Brown said. "I think the lesson is everybody in the NBA is injured."
Philadelphia became just the fourth team in league history to open a season with 17 losses, joining the 1998-99 Clippers (0-17), 1988-89 Heat (0-17) and the 2009-10 Nets (0-18). The 76ers can tie the Nets for the worst start in NBA history on Wednesday at Minnesota with a potential chance to break the record at home on Friday against Oklahoma City.
Philadelphia made a late run at the Spurs, pulling within 101-96 with 1 minute, 33 seconds remaining on Henry Sims' layup. But Leonard put the game away by converting a three-point play to make it 104-96 with 42.7 left.
"He has the potential to do that often," Ginobili said of Leonard. "Maybe on a different team he'd be putting up higher numbers. We play in a system and we take what the game gives us."
The 76ers were competitive in their last three losses, losing by an average of 8.3 points per game to Portland, Brooklyn and Dallas, during this four-game homestand. They fell behind big early before battling back late.
The Spurs shot 49 per cent (24-for-49) from the field and outrebounded Philadelphia 31-17 in the first half while taking a 61-46 lead.
"The first half was not played with much energy," Brown said. "I've seen it with our guys. We play the Spurs, we're sort of star struck for a second. We had no juice, no energy."
NUGGETS 103, JAZZ 101
SALT LAKE CITY – Ty Lawson had 15 points and made a double-pump jumper to beat the shot clock with 29.6 seconds left that boosted Denver over Utah.
The game heated up after Arron Afflalo was ejected and the Jazz stormed back from a 22-point deficit to tie the game in the final minutes.
Lawson, who also had 12 assists, made the game-winner from the left wing between two Jazz defenders.
Gordon Hayward was blocked and Trey Burke missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer on the other end before Darrell Arthur clinched the game with two free throws with 4.2 seconds remaining. Alec Burks dunk at the buzzer completing the scoring.
Wilson Chandler scored 10, Afflalo had 14 and Arthur added 12 for the Nuggets, who have won eight of their last 10 games.
Hayward scored 25 points, Burks had 22 and Burke chipped in 18, but Utah's losing streak hit six games – the longest skid since March 10-19 last season.
WIZARDS 107, HEAT 86
WASHINGTON – John Wall had 18 points and 13 assists and Washington made its first seven 3-pointers to beat Miami. The Wizard held the Heat to 2 for 22 from beyond the arc for the game.
Rasual Butler scored 23, and Marcin Gortat added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who never trailed and led by 21 in the first half and 25 in the second.
Chris Bosh led Miami with 21 points, and Dwayne Wade had 20 in his second game back from an injured right hamstring. A night earlier, Wade returned after missing seven games and scored 27 points in a victory at New York.
He played 32 minutes in that game, and 27 on Monday.
CLIPPERS 127, TIMBERWOLVES 101
LOS ANGELES – Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick each scored 23 points before sitting out the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles returned from the most successful road trip in franchise history with a rout of Minnesota.
DeAndre Jordan had 13 rebounds and 11 points for the Clippers, who won their fifth in a row following their 6-1 trip and beat Minnesota for the 10th straight time.
Shabazz Muhammad had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who beat the Lakers 120-119 at Staples Center just three nights earlier with the help of a missed 3-point shot by Kobe Bryant at the final horn.
Andrew Wiggins, the first overall pick in the draft, scored all 14 of his points in the first half. Ex-Clippers point guard Mo Williams, playing for his third different club in three seasons since leaving Los Angeles, had seven points and seven assists.