SAN ANTONIO —
Postgame
Game Story
First Quarter
San Antonio's first bucket after the All-Star break came as Doug McDermott cut around Jakob Poeltl toward the bucket. Dejounte Murray took it to the rack, then pulled up and swished from mid-range.
Poeltl grabbed an offensive board and scored inside, then passed to Devin Vassell for a mid-range make. DJ passed to Poeltl for a push shot, then dimed Keldon Johnson on a layup. Murray scored the next basket himself off another assist from Poeltl.
Keldon got to the stripe after a steal by Vassell, then scored through contact on a pass from Murray. Murray then found Poeltl in transition for a high-speed dunk to tie it at 22.
San Antonio brought in Tre Jones, Lonnie Walker IV, Keita Bates-Diop, and Zach Collins. Tomas Satoransky checked in for Murray a little later, making his Spurs debut.
Walker hit a jumper, but then missed a three, then a layup. Washington went on a quick 7-0 run before Walker lobbied for a late whistle, hitting one of two. Satoransky got one at the line as well, then played good defense to force a turnover.
Walker dribbled the clock out, then hit the jets toward the basket for a tough layup. San Antonio trailed 33-30 after the first quarter, not bad considering they missed their first seven attempts from three.
Second Quarter
Keldon Johnson ended San Antonio's oh-fer streak from deep. Satoransky drove to the line for free throws, then Tre Jones made a difficult layup through a foul. He missed the free throw to tie, but a possession later Keldon hit another three to knot things at 40. Washington answered, but Johnson cut inside for another game-tying bucket and forced a Wizards timeout.
San Antonio did more than just survive the non-Dejounte minutes, outscoring the Wizards by two with their All-Star catching a breather.
Murray got free throws, then McDermott scored again inside. Poeltl scored over Kuzma, who returned the favor on the other end. After a stretch of basketball that was either really ugly or really beautiful depending on how you look at it, Poeltl grabbed a miss and popped it in the basket. Murray floated one in from deep in the paint, then drilled a jumper from the elbow to tie it.
Murray passed to McDermott in the corner for a cutting reverse layup. He bounced a pocket pass to Collins for a rolling finish, then swished from mid-range to put the Spurs in front. DJ got more free throws, making the Spurs 13-18 there in the first half. That's their season average. Washington hit their tenth three, which is their average for three-point makes in a game.
Poeltl posted up and tossed in a jump hook over Kuzma. Poeltl set a screen for DJ, got a switch, and kissed in a layup. Washington hit another three, but Dejounte dribbled behind the back into an elbow jumper that he swished. Murray passed to Johnson, who hesitated on a three and then drilled it through a foul for a four-point play, giving San Antonio their largest lead of the game at six.
Third Quarter
Devin Vassell shook off a rough first half, grabbing a board and getting it back from Murray for a quick and-1. McDermott found Poeltl inside, and Washington called time down 9.
Daniel Gafford finished a few lobs for Washington, but Keldon drilled his fourth triple of the game. Poeltl rolled and forced help defense, kicking it to Devin for a wide-open three to push the lead to 11.
McDermott inbounded to Murray and immediately cut to the rim, giving Murray 10 assists. DJ drove and tried to pass across the court, but it turned into his first turnover.
Washington scored 4 in a row to force a timeout, then made it 8 in a row before an angrier timeout after Vassell missed a three and let his man get an easy transition layup. McDermott took a dribble handoff from Poeltl, drove baseline for a reverse layup, and got an and-1 to settle things down a bit. Vassell made a mistake on defense that resulted in a three.
Murray turned it over for the third time on an uncharacteristically bad pass, and Washington took the lead with free throws. He set up a number of corner threes that didn't fall, then turned it over again. Murray went to the bench, and then the Spurs turned it over twice.
Zach Collins fought for an offensive board, and Tre Jones got to the line. Collins got a steal inside and Jones went in for a layup, but got called for an offensive foul. Collins snatched a lob attempt on defense, then got another offensive board before a tough layup by Keldon.
They went back and forth, as Walker hit a pull-up j between Wizards buckets. Walker took his time with the clock winding down, drilling another jumper off the dribble to beat the buzzer and give the Spurs a 101-100 lead heading to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
Keldon bullied his way to the basket for the first score of the fourth. Walker put his shoulder down for a tough layup with no call. He missed his next jumper, but Jakob Poeltl exploded up to the ball and put it in the hole. Jak lobbed it up to Keldon, who went to the stripe after taking a nasty spill.
Poeltl got another easy putback, then helped force a turnover, then fed Keldon on a cut for free throws. He hit both, making it 29 in a row and a career-high 29 points for the game. Pop called time up three, and brought Dejounte Murray back in.
Kuzma stepped back and drilled a three to tie. KBD bumped his way to the free throw line, where the Spurs shot a fantastic volume and percentage all night. Kuzma stepped into a heat check three and swished it for the lead. Collins scored on a physical post-up, then KBD got a putback to put the Spurs up 119-118.
Lonnie sized up a three from the top and swished it off a feed from DJ. Murray cut off a screen and scored his first basket of the second half on Jak's eighth assist of the game. Washington fouled Poeltl on purpose, but he burned them with two makes. They did it again and he missed both. Washington got a contested layup, then fouled Poeltl again. He hit one, then forced a turnover, then went back to the line and hit one to make it an 8-point lead.
Dejounte Murray smelled blood and called for an isolation on Corey Kispert, putting him in a blender for a mid-range bucket. Kuzma hit free throws, then Washington trapped Murray for his fourth turnover. San Antonio called time clinging to a four-point advantage with 1:05 to play.
Walker got an open three but missed, and Kuzma drove for free throws to get to 34 points. Murray got the mismatch on Kispert again, but help defense forced him into a tough spinning jumper that he missed. Washington called time with 24 seconds left on the clock and a two-point deficit.
KCP went quick and tied it. Dejounte Murray dribbled out the clock and settled for a deep three that he missed badly. Washington called time with 1.1 seconds left. Vassell tipped the first inbound, then defended Kuzma well on the second to force a miss.
Washington closed the fourth on an 8-0 run to tie it at 130 and force overtime.
Overtime
Washington got the first bucket to make it a 10-0 run, but Keldon hit his fifth three to make it a career-high 32. Dejounte passed to Lonnie in the corner, and Lonnie made a quick baseline move before leaping into the sky and cramming an acrobatic dunk. The Wizards hit a three, but Lonnie answered with his own.
Walker whipped a pass to Devin for an open three that missed, and Kuzma capitalized with a floater. Walker attacked off a catch and got to the line, then the Spurs forced a turnover. Vassell got free throws off the ball and put the Spurs in front 142-141.
Neto hit a tough jumper over DJ to take the lead back. Walker attacked and got blocked, but the Spurs kept the ball. Dejounte got the ball with the shot clock winding down and stepped into an open three that he drilled, giving the Spurs a two-point lead with 24.7 to play.
Neto took it to the rim early in the shot clock for the tie after what looked like a defensive miscommunication. With 18.3 left, Pop called time to draw something up. Murray opted for a mid-range jumper, but like last time there was minimal motion, and a missed shot, and over a second on the clock for Washington to win it with a score. They missed again, and the game went to double OT.
Double Overtime
Daniel Gafford put the Wizards up three, but Lonnie dished to Vassell for a bucket and then crossed over for a layup off the window. Keldon took it to the rim and missed, but Poeltl got another offensive board and scored for the lead. Poeltl got a steal, but Murray went to the floor for a tie up after it looked like he twisted his ankle a bit. He lost the jump, but stayed in.
A Wizards floater for the lead refused to go in, but so did a wing jumper by Keldon. Kuzma missed again, and Murray dribbled some time off the clock before driving and kissing it off the glass to put the Spurs up three with 1:03 to play.
Poeltl played solid defense at the arc to force a missed three, then set a tough screen before rolling in for a hook shot to put the Spurs up five. Kuzma missed a three, but the Wizards got an offensive board and a triple from Neto. Murray iced the game with free throws, and the Spurs escaped 157-153. They'll head to Miami for another game tomorrow.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (23-36) will continue their 2022 Rodeo Road Trip Friday night as they visit the Washington Wizards (27-31).
This will be the final meeting in the regular-season for both teams and San Antonio is 1-0 versus the Wizards this season. Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis and several others are out for Washington.
In their previous game, the Spurs beat the Thunder, 114-106.
Keldon Johnson led the team with 22 points. Jakob Poeltl had 20 points and 17 rebounds. Dejounte Murray ended the night with 18 points and eight assists.
"It wasn't a perfect game by any means. There was a little back-and-forth. Most importantly, in the end, we pulled out the win. There were some stretches where we let go a bit and that shouldn't happen. But a win is a win and we're happy about that," said Jakob Poeltl.
Here are five things to watch for in Friday's game:
1. The Spurs have won three-straight games versus the Wizards.
2. The Spurs have six-straight games of handing out more assists in a game over their opponents.
3. The Wizards are holding their opponents to just 10.9 three-pointers made a
game which currently ranks as the second-best mark in the league.
4. Washington shot the ball at a .390 clip from beyond the arc during the last five games.
5. The Wizards are averaging 50.2 points per game in the paint this season which currently ranks as the third-most in the NBA.
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