Devin Vassell scored 22 points, including a key 3-pointer with 1:03 to play, as the host San Antonio Spurs held off the New Orleans Pelicans 119-115 on Saturday night.
San Antonio (28-38) has won two of its past three outings and pulled within four games of 10th-place Dallas for a spot in the West play-in tournament with 16 contests left in the regular season.
The Pelicans, already eliminated from the postseason and a near-MASH unit because of a slew of injuries, played without Zion Williamson, who missed the game for personal reasons.
The Spurs carried a 92-83 lead into the final quarter thanks to a near-half court buzzer-beater by Jeremy Sochan to end the third. New Orleans (18-50) culled its deficit to two twice, the final time on a layup by Karlo Matkovic with 2:09 remaining.
Vassell then all but clinched the win with his 3-pointer that built San Antonio’s advantage to five. Two free throws by the Spurs’ Julian Champagnie with 16 seconds left and one by Stephon Castle with six seconds remaining were the final nails in the Pelicans’ coffin.
Harrison Barnes and Keldon Johnson added 19 points apiece for San Antonio, with Castle hitting for 17, Sochan scoring 14 and Champagnie tallying 12.
New Orleans’ CJ McCollum led all scorers with 26 points and added a game-high nine assists, while Trey Murphy III had 20, Bruce Brown scored 19, Kelly Olynyk contributed 14 and Matkovic racked up 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The Pelicans lost for the sixth time in its past seven games.
New Orleans scored the opening period’s final six points to take a 23-22 lead after 12 minutes of play.
San Antonio led 51-42 after three free throws over two possessions by Vassell, the last at the 4:01 mark of the second quarter. But the Pelicans whittled away at their deficit and took a brief lead before Vassell’s dunk knotted the game at 58-all at the break.
McCollum led all scorers with 14 in the first half while Murphy added 11 for the Pelicans. Vassell’s 11 paced San Antonio at the break.
