Leonard-less Spurs shred Nets

With star forward Kawhi Leonard and three other regulars out, the Spurs’ lineup was different.

The expectations from their coach never are.

Patty Mills scored 20 points and LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 as San Antonio rolled to a 11286 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.

Pau Gasol (broken bone, left hand) and Tony Parker (sore left foot) didn’t even make the road trip, while Manu Ginobili was scheduled for a night off but couldn’t have played anyway because of back spasms.

Then Leonard, the Western Conference player of the week, was scratched.

Without them, the Spurs put seven players in double figures and turned the game into a blowout with a 39-point third quarter.

They improved to 19-4 on the road.

“Everyone gets excited to be able to get the chance to get out there and play, but nothing changes,” Mills said.

“The game plan’s still the same, what’s expected of us is the same, so it’s just that opportunity. But there is that excitement when we do it the right way, play the right way, share the ball and everyone does their little piece.”

The Spurs announced Leonard was resting, though coach Gregg Popovich said the AllStar forward had a sore left hand, which was wrapped after Leonard was hit while scoring a career-high 41 points in an overtime victory at Cleveland on Saturday.

“Our depth is one of our strengths and everybody’s ready to play, and of course Pop makes it very clear what he expects out of us out there, whether it’s the first-team guys or the role players doing that,” said David Lee, who had 15 points off the bench.

Isaiah Whitehead scored 19 points for the Nets, who got more bad news before the game when the team announced Jeremy Lin will be sidelined another three to five weeks after aggravating his strained left hamstring.

Brooklyn has lost eight straight at home.