Spurs Suffer Crushing Loss to Zion Williamson, Pelicans After Thrilling Finish
The San Antonio Spurs followed up their biggest win of the season over the Minnesota Timberwolves last week with two frustrating home losses to the Washington Wizards and Orlando Magic.
To make matters worse, a talent-heavy New Orleans Pelicans squad marched into Frost Bank Center on Friday night with sights set on a third double-digit win over the Spurs this season.
It wasn't a blowout, but New Orleans got the best of the Spurs once again, though just barely.
© Scott Wachter, USA TODAY
Pelicans star Zion Williamson scored a game-high 33 points and hit the go-ahead layup with 3.8 seconds left to give New Orleans a thrilling 114-113 win. Spurs guard Devin Vassell scored a team-high 28 points but missed the potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Spurs rookie star Victor Wembanyama had 16 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. He added three blocks, including one on Williamson in the clutch, but it was the 2019 No. 1 overall pick who scored the final four points of the game to close out the win.
Along with Williamson, veteran guard C.J. McCollum added 21 points while Brandon Ingram (19 points, six assists) and Jonas Valanciunas (18 points, nine rebounds) tallied double-digit scoring efforts.
Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan finished with 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Guard Tre Jones had an all-around game with 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
San Antonio controlled most of the first half, out-hustling the Pelicans before taking a somewhat-surprising 65-58 lead headed into halftime.
The Spurs maintained momentum coming out of the locker room and built the lead up to 12 at 78-66 with 7:55 in the third quarter. However, this lead quickly vanished, as a 15-3 run by the Pelicans tied the game at 81-81. After some back-and-forth, the game remained tied at 88-88 headed into the fourth.
New Orleans then built its lead up to as many as five to begin the final frame, but the Spurs didn't blink. Back-to-back triples from Doug McDermott kept things from swinging in the Pelicans' favor before a 7-0 run from the Spurs put them back in front at 105-102 with 5:10 to play.
This all led to the thrilling finish, but the Spurs missed four crucial free throws in the final five minutes, which ultimately kept the Pelicans alive in what ended as a one-point win.
The Spurs will look to regroup when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT.
