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Aldridge, Murray power Spurs past Raptors, 101-97

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The Spurs are without their two main leaders from last season, but they are not lacking in direction. Resurgent forward LaMarcus Aldridge and second-year player Dejounte Murray continue to lead the way as San Antonio remained unbeaten by fighting past Toronto. Aldridge had 20 points and Murray had 16 points and 14 rebounds and the Spurs held on to beat the Raptors 101-97 on Monday night. “Just an overall good win against a really well-coached, disciplined team that has a lot of expectations,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “It’s good for our confidence since we’re trying to put some things together.” The Spurs are missing leading scorer Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker, who are both rehabilitating from quadriceps injury. San Antonio has struggled to find an offensive flow without their veterans, but Murray is attempting to step into the void in just his second season. “I just want to win,” Murray said. “I got that winning in my (inside) and in my DNA. I just do anything to win. If I don’t score a point, I’m going to go rebound. If I don’t rebound, I’m going to try facilitate or I’m going to try to play defense. That’s the thing that you’ve got to have.” San Antonio needed that grit from the 21-year-old point guard in slugging through a physical game. Both teams were assessed 20-plus fouls and Aldridge and Serge Ibaka received technical fouls after an altercation with 3:36 remaining in the game. The two got tangled battling for position under the