SAN ANTONIO —
Recap
Rookie Victor Wembanyama scored a season-high 38 points, Zach Collins added 19 and the San Antonio Spurs held off Phoenix's late charge to beat the Suns 132-121 on Thursday night.
The Suns erased a 27-point deficit, tying it at 116 with 4:21 left on Keita Bates-Diop's 3-pointer, but the Spurs responding by scoring the next 12 points, including 10 from the precocious Wembanyama.
In just his fifth NBA game, Wembanyama produced a handful of highlight plays, including flying down the lane for a dunk in the second quarter. The 7-foot-4 Frenchman shot 15 of 26 from the field and had 10 rebounds.
But it was his poise down the stretch that might have been most impressive. The 19-year-old forward hit a 3-pointer, made three free throws, dunked and hit an 18-foot jumper during the decisive run.
Phoenix's Devin Booker returned from a sprained ankle and nearly had a triple double with 31 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds. But it wasn't enough for the Suns, who had 14 turnovers. Kevin Durant had 28 points.
It was the second time in three days the Spurs beat the Suns in Phoenix. San Antonio shocked Phoenix 115-114 on Tuesday night, erasing a 20-point deficit and scoring the winning basket after Keldon Johnson stole the ball from Durant in the final seconds and made a contested layup with 1.2 seconds left.
On Thursday, it looked as if San Antonio would win in a blowout.
The Spurs led 13-0 after the Suns missed their first five shots and never trailed. San Antonio pushed its advantage to 27 points midway through the second quarter, taking advantage of sloppy Phoenix play on both ends of the floor.
The Spurs led 75-55 at the break after Wembanyama hit back-to-back 3s late in the second quarter.
Booker made a 3-pointer that cut it to 14 points going into the fourth quarter. The Suns continued their methodical push throughout the fourth Bates-Diop's dunk on an assist from Booker cut it to 111-108 with 6:04 left.
Pregame
Fresh off their last-second victory over the Suns (2-2) in Phoenix, the Spurs (2-2) will be right back on the same court for a rematch two nights later.
San Antonio stunned the Footprint Center crowd when Keldon Johnson snatched the ball right out of Kevin Durant's hands before scoring the game-winning layup Tuesday night, giving the Spurs their first lead of the game and, a few moments later, their first road game of the season. They were losing by as many as 20 points at one point in the game, which represented a strong response by a young Spurs crowd that had lost by 40 to the Clippers two nights prior.
It also gave San Antonio its first win over Phoenix since April 17, 2021, when the Silver & Black trotted out a starting lineup of Johnson, Drew Eubanks, Luka Samanic, Derrick White and Dejounte Murray.
"I couldn't be prouder of them. As we all talk about, pounding the rock," head coach Gregg Popovich said. "They just kept playing through it no matter what. We made a gazillion mistakes, we just kept playing. That's the best thing about the group. I was really proud of them."
Durant commended the play of Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama, saying "he's going to be a force in this league for a long time." At the same time, he and the Suns will be out for revenge Thursday night.
As of now, however, they're expected to once again be without prolific scorers Devin Booker and Bradley Beal due to injury.
Recent history
The Spurs are now 1-9 in their last 10 games against the Suns, and are 100-87 in the two teams' all-time series.
Devin Vassell's 20 points per game leads San Antonio so far this season, with Keldon Johnson and Victor Wembanyama averaging 17.3 and 16.3 points per matchup, respectively. Wembanyama's 2.3 blocks and 7.5 rebounds per game is tops for the Spurs in the early going.
Kevin Durant is averaging 27.3 points per game for Phoenix so far in his first full season with the team.
San Antonio managed to eke out Tuesday's win despite the Suns outplaying them in virtually every category on the stat sheet. The Spurs did, however, outscore their opponent 56-40 in the paint.
Injury report
Here's the latest injury report from the NBA.
Spurs: No players out due to injury.
Suns:
- Bradley Beal: Out, lower back spasms
- Devin Booker: Questionable, left ankle sprain
- Damion Lee: Out, right meniscus surgery
Check back here for updates.
Game information
When: 9 p.m. CST
Where: Footprint Center, Phoenix
How to watch: Bally Sports Southwest
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