PHOTOS: Spurs dominate Wizards 116-99
SAN ANTONIO —
Postgame Interviews
Gregg Popovich
Derrick White
Dejounte Murray
Thad Young
Game Story
First Quarter
San Antonio got off to a decent start as Keldon Johnson drained a three to open the scoring.
Dejounte Murray and Derrick White started a combined 1-8 from the floor, but they assisted on three Spurs' baskets.
A pair of Spurs stops resulted in a pair of thunderous, nearly identical one-handed dunks in transition.
Bradley Beal ran off a screen and drained a corner three to give the Wizards a 13-11 lead, but Dejounte answered at the free throw line to tie it. Drew Eubanks came in, survived a few switches on Beal, freed up White for a jumper, and blocked a couple of shots inside.
Murray found a shooter in the corner multiple times, but the shots didn't fall. Both offenses struggled, especially when the bench units came in. Bryn Forbes checked in and immediately drained a three to give San Antonio a lead.
The score was tied at 20 after the first.
Second Quarter
18-year-old rookie Josh Primo checked into the game early in the second, and drilled a deep three as both offenses continued to wade through the mud.
Washington seemed to get shot after shot at the rim, but good defense in the paint and pure luck combined to mostly keep the ball out of the hoop. Keldon and Beal traded layups, and then Primo popped in another pure catch-and-shoot three.
The Wizards strung a few positive plays together to build a five-point lead before Lonnie Walker IV zipped a zesty bounce pass to Jakob Poeltl for a forceful jam. Poeltl placed in a putback, then floated one in on a pick and roll feed from DJ, then another to make it eight Spurs points in a row for the big man.
Washington outscored the Spurs 18-12 in the final 5:34 of the half, and took a 51-45 lead into the break.
Third Quarter
The Wizards made just a single three-point bucket in the first half, and in the first minute of the third quarter, they hit their second and third en route to a game-high 10-point lead.
Dejounte Murray passed to Poeltl for a floater and White for a wide open three, and after a Keita Bates-Diop and-1 the Spurs had cut Washington's lead to four. White answered a three with his own from the corner, and Jakob Poeltl followed up a block with an easy layup through contact.
Down two, Dejounte drove to the basket, spun past his defender, floated it in from just a few feet out, and got fouled with a chance to reclaim the lead. He missed, but the Wizards bungled the board and Derrick White punished them with a clean stepback three for a 69-66 Spurs lead.
DJ drove in for another one-handed floater to make it a 9-0 run. Washington cut it back to a single point, and White settled things down with a scoop layup and a paint floater, both in pick and roll.
The Wizards tied things at 75 before Tre Jones finished a tough layup and Derrick saved the day with a crafty block on Beal. Washington took a timeout, but it didn't cool off the torrid play of Derrick, who floated in another and then scored on a back cut off a feed from Thad Young, giving him 18 in the third, the highest scoring quarter of his career.
Dejounte had 10 in the period, and the pair combined to assist on an additional 9 points. They accounted for 37 of the 39 points San Antonio scored in the quarter
Keldon finished a layup to give the Spurs their biggest lead of the game at nine. It was an 84-78 Spurs lead heading to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
Thad Young continued to make a positive impact in the second half, feeding KBD on a driving and-1 finish and then getting a lefty hook to go down low.
Dejounte found Bryn for a three to give the Spurs their largest lead of the game, 91-81. Young extended that to a 12-point lead with another lefty hook.
Lonnie ripped a steal and set up a possession that ended with a floater for Forbes. Thad threw in a hook with his right hand, just for the heck of it. Forbes drove in and dumped it off to Thad for a strong two-handed jam. Dejounte missed, but Keldon put it back in with a volleyball set.
Murray drove his way to the line to extend the lead to 14 with just over four minutes to play. He drove in for a scoop a few plays later. Derrick snaked his way into the paint for another bucket, and Thad posted up Beal on a mismatch to give the Spurs their biggest lead of the game at 112-96.
Devontae Cacok made his Spurs debut and got his first basket on a tip-in as the Spurs won 116-99.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (5-13) will host the Washington Wizards (13-7) Monday night as the Spurs will look to build a winning streak.
In the Spurs' previous game, Dejounte Murray had 29 points and 11 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs rallied in the final minute to beat the Boston Celtics 96-88, snapping a six-game skid.
Before the game, head coach Gregg Popovich was asked about the split of minutes at backup center between Drew Eubanks and Thad Young.
"Drew's gotten a lot more minutes than Thaddeus has, so I think that's probably the way we've pretty much pictured it," Popovich said.
Here are five things to watch for in tonight's game:
1. The Wizards are on a two-game win streak and are 6-5 on the road.
2. Getting to the charity stripe. The Wizards have five-consecutive games with more free-throws attempts than their opponent.
3. The Wizards are 4-0 on the road when leading after the third period.
4. Sharing the ball of late. The Spurs have two-consecutive games with more assists than their opponent.
5. Keep an eye on the halftime score at home. The Spurs are 0-5 this season when trailing at halftime.
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Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5