FP - Australians Aron Baynes and Patty Mills shared in a thriller as San Antonio Spurs delivered their coach Gregg Popovich's 1000th career NBA victory.
Baynes tipped in to level the scores inside the final minute before teammate Marco Belinelli nailed an 18-foot baseline jumper with 2.1 seconds remaining as the defending NBA champions beat the Indiana Pacers 95-93 in Indianapolis on Monday night.
The Spurs rallied from 14 points down entering the fourth quarter to collect the milestone triumph for Popovich, the longest-tenured coach in North American professional sports.
"I've been here a long time and I've had good players. That's the formula," Popovich said after the game.
"Time, that's the most important element. And we've been able to get the players. It's a tribute to them more than it is the coaches."
French guard Tony Parker scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Spurs, who also had 15 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots from Tim Duncan, 12 points from Italian bench forward Belinelli, 10 from Kawhi Leonard and 12 rebounds by Danny Green.
Mills finished with nine points off the bench while Baynes contributed four.
Popovich, who has coached the Spurs to five NBA championships in 19 seasons with the club, became the ninth coach to win 1000 NBA games and joined former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan as the only men with that many wins for only a single franchise.
Popovich needed 1462 games to reach the milestone, the third-fewest of those to win 1000, trailing only Phil Jackson (1423) and Pat Riley (1434).
Popovich's total is the most of any active coach and his win percentage is the second-best of any 1000-win coach.
A night after missing the chance to bring Popovich the historic win at Toronto, the Spurs made it happen at the finish by outscoring the Pacers 30-14 in the final 12 minutes.
Leonard drove inside and flipped the ball to Belinelli, who evaded a leaping defender with a shot fake, stepped inside the 3-point arc on the left side and sank the go-ahead hoop.
Indiana's George Hill, a former Spur traded to the Pacers in exchange for Leonard, missed a three-pointer at the final buzzer and "Pop" had his 1000th victory.
"It was a great game," Popovich said. "It was a playoff sort of game. Anybody could have won. We were fortunate we made a shot."
Popovich said he felt no different than after any of his first 999 victories and added with his trademark deadpan demeanor, "I don't do too much celebrating."
Rodney Stuckey led the Pacers with 18 points while David West grabbed 18 rebounds for Indiana.
Share
