Rookie Victor Wembanyama scored a career-high 38 points and collected 10 rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 132-121 victory over the host Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.
Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, scored 10 points in the fourth quarter as San Antonio held off a Phoenix charge. The Spurs never trailed while winning both ends of the back-to-back set in Phoenix.
Zach Collins recorded 19 points and eight rebounds and Devin Vassell scored 17 points for San Antonio. Jeremy Sochan had 14 points and nine assists, Cedi Osman scored 13 and Tre Jones added 12 points and 10 assists for the Spurs.
Phoenix star Devin Booker had 31 points and 13 assists in his return from a three-game absence due to an ankle injury. Kevin Durant scored 28 points for the Suns, who had beaten San Antonio nine straight times prior to the two setbacks.
Grayson Allen scored 16 points and Keita Bates-Diop and Drew Eubanks scored 13 points apiece for Phoenix.
The Suns trailed by 27 in the second quarter before briefly tying the game in the fourth quarter.
This was the second of two consecutive games between the teams. San Antonio never led on Tuesday until Keldon Johnson’s steal and ensuing layup with 1.2 seconds left gave the Spurs a 115-114 victory. They had trailed by 20 in that matchup.
San Antonio shot 52 percent on Thursday and was 18 of 37 from 3-point range.
The Suns made 53.8 percent of their attempts, including 16 of 32 from behind the arc.
The Suns moved within single digits when Booker buried a 3-pointer to cut San Antonio’s lead to 109-101 with 8:42 remaining in the game. A short time later, Durant slammed home a dunk to bring Phoenix within 111-108 with 6:04 remaining.
The Suns caught the Spurs at 116 when Bates-Diop connected on a 3-pointer with 4:21 left.
Wembanyama took over by scoring 10 points in San Antonio’s decisive 12-0 run. His 3-pointer and 18-footer 35 seconds apart capped the run and made it 128-116 with 1:35 remaining.
San Antonio started fast, with 13 consecutive points, and made eight 3-pointers in the opening quarter while taking a 39-20 lead.
The Spurs pushed the lead to 55-28 on Sochan’s hoop with 7:54 left in the half. The lead was 75-55 at the break as Wembanyama scored 20 first-half points.
Booker nailed a 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left in the third quarter to bring the Suns within 103-89.
SOURCE: reuters.com