When the struggling San Antonio Spurs play the Washington Wizards on Monday, they will be riding high after their biggest win of the season and looking for a third straight triumph.
For their second meeting of the season, the Spurs visit the Wizards having defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 113–112 at home on Saturday.
Before taking control of the game and holding on against one of the best teams in the Western Conference, San Antonio was behind by 10 points at the beginning of the second quarter and 15 points at the beginning of the fourth.
Only three times this season have the Spurs triumphed in back-to-back games. They still haven’t won three straight games.
About his club, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich stated, “They just exhibited a lot of desire to win.” “(They did) a lot of little things.”
Victor Wembanyama contributed 23 points and 10 rebounds, Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 25 points in the victory, and Keldon Johnson scored 14 points off the bench and made the game-winning free throw with 9.2 seconds remaining.
“KJ really brought that energy out in the fourth, and we were able to just keep it going all the way through,” Vassell said of Johnson.
The Spurs won on successive days thanks to 13 points from Jeremy Sochan and 12 points and 11 assists from Tre Jones. Additionally, San Antonio was playing its third game of a seven-game homestand.
Johnson remarked, “We played together, we played for each other.” “We came together as a team, making big plays and getting stops in the closing moments. That was the primary concern. That alone is really significant. Together, we completed the task.”
After defeating the Detroit Pistons 118-104 on the road on Saturday, the Wizards travel to San Antonio for their only game of the season. The NBA clubs with the bottom two records faced off in this encounter.
After dropping six straight games, including a 131-127 loss to San Antonio at home on January 20, Washington ended the run.
The Wizards won on Saturday thanks to 30 points from Kyle Kuzma, 17 from Jordan Poole, and 15 from Daniel Gafford with 13 rebounds. After Wes Unseld Jr. was relocated to a front-office role on Thursday, interim coach Brian Keefe took over as head coach of Washington and the team won its first game.
In the last 12 minutes, Detroit was only able to shoot 28.6 percent from the field and go 0-for-8 from beyond the arc.
“This is obviously very cool, and the best part is the way we played defense,” Keefe stated. We discussed the need to improve as a defensive unit two days ago, and we performed admirably (against Detroit). Though there is still more to be done, these are the habits we must develop.”
The Wizards made the plays they needed to in the end, defeating Detroit 31-19 in the fourth quarter behind the 13 points off the bench from Marvin Bagley III, 12 points and nine assists from Tyus Jones, and 10 points from Deni Avdija.