San Antonio rebounded from a 40-point to secure their first road win of the season in the desert.
SAN ANTONIO —
Recap
Keldon Johnson’s dunk with 1.2 seconds left gave the Spurs (2-2) their only lead of the night and lifted San Antonio to a 115-114 victory over the stunned Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.
The Spurs, who trailed by as many as 20 points in the game, stole the ball from Kevin Durant in the final seconds and Johnson, who led the Spurs with 27 points, scored to break San Antonio’s nine-game losing streak against Phoenix.
Playing in his fourth NBA game, top draft pick Victor Wembanyama missed his first five shots before throwing down a sensational dunk in the final seconds of the first half. He scored 18 points and had eight rebounds in 28 minutes. Devin Vassell also had 18 for the Spurs.
Durant led Phoenix with 26 points. Eric Gordon scored 20, Grayson Allen had 19 on 5 of 7 shooting from 3-point range for the Suns, who played without injured starting guards Bradley Beal and Devin Booker.
Jusuf Nurkic had a game-high 12 rebounds for Phoenix, which scored the game’s first eight points.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called a timeout 53 seconds into the game after Durant’s fastbreak dunk made it 4-0. It didn’t help much as Phoenix went on to lead 27-18 at the end of the quarter. Durant had a game-high 10 points in the period, finishing with a step-back jumper as time was running out. The Spurs shot 29% from the field in the quarter and made just 1 of 11 from 3-point range.
Phoenix led 63-45 at halftime.
Before the game, Suns coach Frank Vogel said “there’s no timetable” for the return of Booker (left ankle sprain) and Bradley Beal (low back spasms). “They’re working very hard to get back as soon as possible,” Vogel said, noting that they have resumed some on-court activities in practice.
Pregame
The Spurs (1-2) are set to take on Kevin Durant and the Suns (2-1) in a two-game set in Phoenix, starting Halloween night.
San Antonio will be looking to bounce back after a rough outing against the Clippers, a 123-83 road loss that saw the Spurs’ starters combine for just 41 points.
“Credit to them [Clippers], they have been together for a couple of years,” Devin Vassell said after the Sunday-night loss in Hollywood. “We just got to play better. We got to come out better. We got to move on. We have another game against Phoenix, and we’ll be better.”
Phoenix will be coming into the matchup on an extra day of rest, having most recently defeated the Utah Jazz, 126-104, on Saturday.
Recent history
It’s been two and a half years since the Spurs last defeated the Suns, having been outscored by an average of 15 points per game in that stretch. Phoenix has been a formidable team in recent years, winning 64 games in the 2021-22 season and going 45-37 last year before losing to the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets in the conference semifinals.
Kevin Durant has been characteristically great for Phoenix in the early going this season, averaging 27.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Devin Booker leads the team with 32 points per game through three matchups, though as of Monday night he’s questionable for Tuesday’s game.
Devin Vassell is powering the offense in the early going for San Antonio, scoring 20.7 points per game thus far. Star rookie is averaging 15.7 points to go along with 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.
This is the Suns’ and Spurs’ first matchup this season.
Injury report
Here’s the latest injury report from the NBA:
Spurs: No player out from injury.
- Bradley Beal: Out, lower back spasms
- Devin Booker: Doubtful, 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: TNT, Max
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