No Wemby, no problem: San Antonio won their 11th straight to tie a season-high, buoyed by strong outings from De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — De’Aaron Fox scored 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers 118-99 on Thursday night without Victor Wembanyama in the lineup to win their 11th in a row.
Wembanyama was rested on the second night of a back-to-back. He had 41 points and 18 rebounds in a 127-113 win at the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.
The Spurs had six players in double-figures, including Stephon Castle with 20 points and Dylan Harper with 19 off the bench.
San Antonio kept alive its hopes of catching Oklahoma City for the top spot in the West. The Spurs improved to 27-2 since Feb. 1 and 11-5 when Wembanyama doesn’t play.
Kawhi Leonard scored 24 points to lead the Clippers with his 53rd consecutive game of 20 or more points. Bennedict Mathurin added 18 points off the bench and John Collins had 15. The loss dropped them to the ninth spot for the play-in tournament with their second straight loss after winning five in a row. Portland moved into eighth after a 118-106 win.
The Spurs led by 26 points in the first half. They shot 72% from the floor early in the second quarter, opening with an 11-2 run and hitting 20 of their first 28 shots.
The Clippers rallied in the third when they outscored the Spurs 34-19. Mathurin had 10 points and Leonard eight as the Clippers closed with a 14-4 run to trail 87-78 going into the fourth.
But the Spurs quickly regained the momentum. Castle scored eight of their 10 points in extending the lead to 99-84.
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