The San Antonio Spurs will look for a midseason sweep of Denver when they host the Nuggets on Saturday night.
San Antonio beat the host Nuggets 113-110 on Friday behind Victor Wembanyama’s 35 points and 18 rebounds. The Spurs clinched the win in the waning moments after Devin Vassell stole a pass from Nikola Jokic and converted a layup two seconds later.
“We knew the ball was going to go to Jokic, and we wanted to crowd him and get it out of his hands, and that worked,” Vassell said of his game-sealing steal and bucket. “We had a lull in the third quarter, but we stayed aggressive and made the plays down the stretch. We have to try to that again (on Saturday).”
Vassell finished with 18 points in Friday’s victory while Chris Paul had 11 assists and hit the layup with 54 seconds to play that put San Antonio on top for good.
San Antonio has won three of its past four games and are two games above .500 for the third time this season.
The Spurs played Friday’s game without forward Jeremy Sochan, who is nursing a sore back. That snapped a streak of seven games in which San Antonio began a game with its “preferred” starting lineup on the court.
Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson said the team’s recent four-game road trip, during which it won just once but lost the other three contests by a combined 10 points, set the table for Friday’s win.
“This game should give us a reference point for future games,” Johnson said. (Friday’s win was) a great moment of growth for the team. We had a lot of players step up and play well for us. We have been working hard and getting better.”
Friday’s game was Wembanyama’s 100th as an NBA player as well as his last as a 20-year-old. He turned 21 on Saturday.
According to the Spurs, through his first 100 career games the French phenom had: more points (2,273) than LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony; more rebounds (1,053) than Anthony Davis, Patrick Ewing and Joel Embiid; more blocked shots (366) than Shaquille O’Neal, Dikembe Mutombo and Hakeem Olajuwon; and more made 3-point shots (225) than Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Trae Young.
“What he’s doing right now, I think he’s coming off a month of December that’s never been done before,” Denver coach Michael Malone said of Wembanyama before the opening tip. “And it’s fun to watch a great player continue to get even better — which is scary at the same time.”
Jokic finished with 41 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists on Friday in a losing cause. Michael Porter Jr. added 22 points and Jamal Murray 14.
Denver, which had a three-game winning streak snapped, was without forward Aaron Gordon for the fifth straight game due to a right calf strain. The Nuggets are 2-3 in those five contests.
“The reality is, while AG is out, other guys have to step up,” Malone said. “I think they’re doing that a little more consistently as of late.”
