SAN ANTONIO — Sometimes the difference between victory and defeat can be excruciatingly close.
The Spurs appeared doomed for another frustrating loss on Saturday night before they pulled out a much-needed 114-113 victory against the Orlando Magic at the AT&T Center.
The win stopped a two-game skid for the Silver and Black, who remained three games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
San Antonio played its second consecutive game without starting power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, sidelined with a strained right shoulder, and lost center Jakob Poeltl with 7:46 left in the first quarter after he banged knees with a Magic player.
With Aldridge out, Trey Lyles moved from center to power forward and Poeltl, who usually comes off the bench, started at center.
"It was a great team win," said forward Rudy Gay, who scored 19 points off the bench and went 4 of 6 from the three-point line. "We all scrambled. We all filled roles and did as much as we could for each other. That was a key about this game. It taught us a lot about ourselves."
The Spurs hung on for dear life to win this one after blowing a 16-point lead.
Orlando led 111-107 after Markelle Fultz scored on a finger roll with two minutes left, but DeMar DeRozan drew the Silver and Black to within two with a short bank shot eight seconds later.
Then guard Bryn Forbes scored on a layup and nailed a three-pointer, capping a 7-0 run that put the Silver and Black up 114-111 with 50.7 seconds remaining. Fultz hit a jumper to cut San Antonio's lead to 114-113 with 40.7 seconds left.
Gay missed a shot on the Spurs' next possession, but he gathered the rebound with 13 seconds remaining and was fouled. What ensued almost cost the Spurs the game.
San Antonio maintained possession after Orlando was whistled for the non-shooting foul, but James Ennis III poked the ball loose from Forbes, who caught the inbounds pass, with 7.5 seconds remaining. Trapped near the sideline, Forbes lost the ball while trying to pass to Derrick White.
Magic guard Evan Fournier wound up with the ball and raced to the other end of the court. Gay did what he could to impede Fournier, but it was 6-foot-1 guard Patty Mills who stretched out his arms under the rim and did just enough to throw off Fournier's twisting drive to the basket.
Fournier's layup fell short with 2.2 seconds remaining and Forbes tapped the loose ball to White, who grabbed it to seal the Spurs' victory. The game ended with White hurling the ball to the other end of the court.
"We had Patty Mills, the rim protector, down there," White said, smiling. "Big play by Patty. He's always talking about how he's a big guard, so it's good for him to show off right there."
In truth, Mills is the shortest player on the Spurs' roster.
The Silver and Black climbed from 12th to 10th in the Western Conference with 24 games left on their schedule. San Antonio, which has 13 home games remaining, hosts Indiana on Monday.
Orlando (27-33) remained seventh in the Eastern Conference. The Magic didn't lead until Carter-Williams hit a floater to make it 91-90 with 9:16 left.
Lyles led the Spurs' scoring with 20 points, making 8 of 13 shots, including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc. Five other players besides Gay and Lyles scored in double figures. DeRozan finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, and Dejounte Murray and Forbes had 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Forbes made 5 of 11 shots and was 3 of 6 from three-point distance.
White (11) and Drew Eubanks (10) completed the double-digit scoring for San Antonio. Eubanks, who has played in the G League for most of the season, acquitted himself well. He was 4 of 4 from the field, and even nailed his only three-pointer for good measure in 16 minutes, 30 seconds.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich spoke well of his players.
"They played a lot of minutes, and they played well," Popovich said. "I was really proud of Drew for coming in and keeping his composure, and he even hit a three, which we told him, 'Don’t ever try to take that shot again.' Once was enough, but he did a good job and Rudy was great. He played a great game on both ends of the court.
"I loved DeMar [DeRozan] hanging in. He didn’t have a great game, he was having a really tough time, but we went to him about five, six times in a row down the stretch and he never hung his head. He kept competing and he came through for us scoring, you know, a nice pass to Brynfor the three."
DeRozan hit 6 of 13 shots and dished out nine assists.
"He (DeRozan) gets a lot of credit for hanging in," Popovich said. "Then, of course, Patty’s [Mills] last verticality there and the turnover, that was pretty good on his part. Just good fundamentals and he worked hard for us. They played a great game, and we hung in there."
The Spurs shot well in the win, hitting 44 of 84 field-goal attempts for 52.4 percent. They were 14 of 31 for 45.2 percent from the three-point line.
Fournier (23) and Terrence Ross (21) paced the Magic's scoring.
Gay (16) and Lyles (12) led the scoring in the first half for the Spurs, who were up 61-53 after two quarters.
Gay didn't miss a shot in the first half, hitting 6 of 6 attempts from the field and going 4 of 4 from beyond the arc. Lyles was 5 of 10 overall and 2 of 4 from three-point range.
The Spurs got off to a fast start, leading by as many as 16 points in the first quarter. Lyles scored all of his first-half points in the opening quarter, getting his 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.
San Antonio was scorching hot in the first half, shooting 65.2 percent overall (15-23) and 63.6 (7-11) from three-point distance.
Nikola Vucevic and Fournier each scored 10 points to lead the Magic's first-half scoring.