SAN ANTONIO —
Postgame
Game Story
First Quarter
Both teams missed good threes out of the gate. Doug McDermott came around a screen and canned one from mid-range, then he drilled a triple on the next trip.
Tre Jones darted to the cup on back-to-back possessions, giving the Spurs a 9-7 lead. Devin Vassell hit free throws, then a catch-and-shoot three. Jones bailed out a terrible offensive possession with a floater to beat the buzzer and make it a six-point game, but Phoenix immediately cut that in half.
San Antonio got another stop, and nobody stepped in front of Jones who laid it up in transition, forcing a timeout.
Devin Booker seemed to get any open shot he wanted, but started just 2-7 from the floor as the Spurs dodged a number of bullets through sheer luck.
Lonnie Walker IV came in off the bench, scoring on a drive and then stepping out to the arc before passing to a cutting Jock Landale for an easy deuce. Landale broke up an interior pass, and Josh Primo ripped a three on the ensuing possession after an offensive board by Juancho Hernangomez.
Landale blocked a shot, then stole the resulting inbound pass, and Primo swatted a pass away before scoring at the rim in pick and roll. Lonnie took the next drive, and switched hands mid-air before kissing it off the glass and in.
San Antonio led 31-23 after the first, as Phoenix shot just 31%.
Second Quarter
Phoenix opened the second quarter with a 6-0 run that consisted entirely of mid-range jumpers from Chris Paul. Drew Eubanks missed a three the defense dared him to take, then got smothered on an ill-advised post-up. The defense left him open at the elbow, and he hit the jumper.
McDermott scored on a quick drive to the basket, pushing the lead back to six. JaVale McGee crammed all over Eubanks, but McDermott answered on a back cut. Eubanks picked up Paul across halfcourt, then inexplicably sagged off to give him an open three. The shot missed, but McGee got the board and got to the line. Pop put Landale back in, and he immediately got a wide-open three that missed.
Bridges and Booker each hit jumpers, cutting San Antonio's advantage to one. Vassell drove into the paint, pulled up and swished it. Chris Paul did the same on the other end. Landale passed it cross-court to McDermott in the corner for three.
Booker drilled a pair of jumpers to tie the game, Bridges dunked for the lead after a Spurs turnover, and Pop called time. Keldon Johnson drove in for an and-1, then Primo drilled a deep three. Juancho won a jump ball, got his own miss and scored to make it a 9-0 Spurs run.
San Antonio led 55-50 at halftime.
Third Quarter
Tre Jones lobbed to Drew Eubanks to start the second half, but Phoenix answered with a quick 5-0 run. Tre drove in for a layup, then Eubanks poked it away from Booker.
Phoenix hit a few shots before McDermott knocked down a three. Booker answered from deep, but McDermott hitt another on a shot that could've been a four-point play.
Chris Paul fouled Jones hard, but seconds later he drove on the left side and whipped a pass to Keldon in the opposite corner for three. Keldon broke up an oop, and Lonnie finished an and-1 in transition with another mid-air adjustment.
Again the Suns got a pair of buckets, and again the Spurs stopped the run. This time it was Walker pulling up from the top of the key. Walker poked it away from Book, then fed Keldon for three. Book got one to fall, but Landale hit a three on a pass from Keldon to put San Antonio up 10.
Primo floated one home, then Keldon and Lonnie both hit from mid-range out of pick and roll looks. Keldon skied in a turnaround jumper, and Lonnie picked Book's pocket for a layup to put the Spurs up 12 with 12 minutes to play.
Fourth Quarter
Phoenix opened with a pair of threes, which is bad in poker but good in basketball. Lonnie hit another mid-range jumper, giving him 17. Chris Paul dished his 13th assist, cutting it to 6 as Pop called time.
San Antonio ran their play poorly and missed, and Chris Paul hit a three to make it an 11-2 run. Paul blocked a shot off of Vassell, then dropped a pair of dimes to make it 12 straight for Phoenix and a 94-93 lead.
Vassell went for a dunk but got blocked at the rim, but they finally forced a Chris Paul miss. McDermott missed, the Spurs forced a turnover but then immediately returned it on an over and back. Cam Johnson got his second dunk in a row to make it a 14-0 run.
McDermott hit a three to knot things at 96, then Chris Paul isolated on him and hit a jumper from the wing to untie things. Primo charged, but Paul couldn't convert on the other end.
Keldon drove in on one of the NBA's best wing defenders in Mikal Bridges, spun at the rim and hit an and-1 to put San Antonio in front. Cam Johnson scored inside again and got a board, but Book missed a stepback over McDermott.
Doug hit his sixth triple of the game, giving him 24 and putting the Spurs up a pair. The score was tied at 102 with five minutes left.
Keldon missed a couple of threes, then gave up a bucket on a backdoor cut. On the other end, rookie Josh Primo ran pick and roll, got a switch onto Bridges, and whapped a three in his face for the lead. Bridges answered out of the timeout to take the lead right back. Lonnie went to the line and tied it at 106.
The Spurs forced a miss, then got a layup atrttempt from Jones that just missed. The putback wouldn't go either, but Phoenix got a costly moving screen call on the other end.
Lonnie drove, bumped off the defense and banged it down off the back rim to get to 20 points. The Suns got a lucky timeout after a near turnover, and Paul hit Book for a tough three for the lead. Walker coughed it up on a crowded drive, and Book hit his second three in a row. Jones missed at the rim, but a potential dagger by the Suns missed.
A missed three by Vassell seemed to graze a Sun, but the officials didn't see it that way. Paul hit a free throw giving him 20 points and 19 assists, and the Suns won 115-110 after closing on an 8-3 run.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (19-31) will visit the Phoenix Suns (39-9) tonight. The Spurs are 0-3 this season versus the Suns and tonight will mark their final regular season game.
In their previous game, the Spurs beat the Bulls, 131-122.
Dejounte Murray led the team with 29 points, and 10 assists. Devin Vassell had 11 points and Keldon Johnson ended the night with 23 points going 4-8 from the three-point line.
"Tonight we just came all together. It was a team effort. We all kept it together. We pulled out the win. Every person that touched the court tonight played hard and gave everything they got. We all chipped in to get this win," Johnson.
The Spurs will be without Murray (left knee contusion), Jakob Poeltl (low back soreness), and Derrick White (rest). Keita Bates-Diop remains in the league's Health and Safety protocols.
Coach Popovich said before the game that Dejounte Murray suffered a minor knee hyperextension in the win over the Bulls, and that Jakob Poeltl has been dealing with a lower back issue due to the physical nature of his game.
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Here are five things to watch for in tonight's game:
1. The Suns have won nine-straight games overall including three-straight wins at home.
2. The Suns have out-rebounded their opponents in four-straight games.
3. The Suns are 30-0 when leading after the third period this season.
4. The Spurs have lost five-straight games to the Suns.
5. The Spurs are 2-1 in their last three games and are averaging 125.0 points per game and 34.3 assists per game.
Stay here at KENS 5 throughout the season for complete Spurs coverage.
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5