The San Antonio Spurs will have momentum on their side from their biggest win of the season and will chase a third consecutive victory when they host the struggling Washington Wizards on Monday.
The Spurs face the Wizards for the second time this season and enter the matchup after a come-from-behind 113-112 home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
San Antonio was down 15 points early in the second quarter and trailed by 10 heading into the fourth before sweeping in front and holding on against one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
It was just the third time this season the Spurs have won back-to-back games. They have yet to win three consecutive games.
“They just exhibited a lot of desire to win,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said about his team. “(They did) a lot of little things.”
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 25 points in the win, Victor Wembanyama added 23 points and 10 rebounds and Keldon Johnson scored 14 points off the bench while also hitting a game-winning free throw with 9.2 seconds to play.
“KJ really brought that energy out in the fourth, and we were able to just keep it going all the way through,” Vassell said about Johnson.
Jeremy Sochan added 13 points and Tre Jones had 12 points and 11 assists in the victory as the Spurs won on consecutive days. It was also the third game of a seven-game homestand for San Antonio.
“We played for each other, we played together,” Johnson said. “As a team, we stepped up and made big plays down the stretch and we got stops. That was the main thing. That’s big time right there. We all did it together.”
The Wizards make their lone visit of the season to San Antonio after a 118-104 road win over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. It was a matchup between the teams with the worst two records in the NBA.
Washington snapped a six-game losing streak that included a 131-127 setback at home to San Antonio on Jan. 20.
Kyle Kuzma led the Wizards in Saturday’s win with 30 points, while Jordan Poole had 17 and Daniel Gafford racked up 15 points and 13 rebounds. The victory was the first for Washington under interim coach Brian Keefe, who was elevated to the position after Wes Unseld Jr. was moved to a front-office post on Thursday.
Washington limited Detroit to 28.6 percent shooting in the final period and an 0-for-8 showing on 3-pointers in the closing 12 minutes.
“This is obviously very cool, and the best part is the way we played defense,” Keefe said. “Two days ago, we talked about having to become a better defensive team, and we did a good job (against Detroit). There’s a long way to go, but these are the habits we have to build.”
Marvin Bagley III had 13 points off the bench, Tyus Jones added 12 points and nine assists and Deni Avdija tallied 10 points as the Wizards made the plays they needed to down the stretch, outscoring Detroit 31-19 in the fourth.
–Field Level Media