De’Aaron Fox scored 26 points, including 11 straight in the final 3:18, as the short-handed San Antonio Spurs defeated the slumping Phoenix Suns 120-109 on Thursday in Austin, Texas.
San Antonio played without star center Victor Wembanyama, who on Thursday was ruled out for the season with a blood clot in his right shoulder.
The game was the first of two in two nights for the Spurs in their home away from home in the Texas capital. San Antonio hosts surging Detroit on Friday.
The Spurs never trailed. They were up by 10 points after one period, by six at halftime and by 15 after three quarters. Phoenix culled its deficit to a bucket twice early in the final quarter before San Antonio responded, pushing the lead to 112-103 on Fox’s three-point play with 2:28 remaining.
Chris Paul’s two free throws with 1 minute left expanded the Spurs’ lead to 120-109 and all but finished off Phoenix, which has dropped four consecutive games.
Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie added 15 points each off the bench for San Antonio, with Devin Vassell and Paul scoring 13 apiece, Jeremy Sochan hitting for 12 and Stephon Castle racking up 10 points and 10 rebounds. Paul also dished out 10 assists as the Spurs won for the second time in three games.
Royce O’Neale led the Suns with 27 points while Kevin Durant added 22, Bradley Beal had 19 and Devin Booker tallied 17.
San Antonio took a 31-21 advantage at the end of the first quarter. That margin grew to 39-23 when Fox canned a driving jumper with 9:30 to play in the half.
The Suns finally found their stride, rallying to tie the game at 45-45 on O’Neale’s layup with 4:26 remaining. O’Neale canned a 3-pointer with 1:15 left to even the game at 54 before San Antonio reeled off the final six points of the half to go up 60-54 at the break.
O’Neale had 15 points to lead Phoenix while Durant had 10 before halftime. Fox’s 13 paced the Spurs in the half.
–Field Level Media
