Spurs Rookie Blake Wesley Key in Comeback Win vs. Hawks
San Antonio Spurs rookie Blake Wesley had just one point in the box score when he entered Sunday's game against the Atlanta Hawks with 6:13 to go in the fourth quarter.
The Spurs were trailing by five points, nearing a full 24-point comeback. By the time he exited the game with 2:43 to go, the Spurs were up five points, completing a 10-0 run with Wesley as the primary guard.
Wesley scored half of those points, including the go-ahead lay-up and a cold-blooded three to put the Spurs up four. The Spurs would go on to win the game 126-118.
"I couldn't do anything but smile to see Blake Wesley hit a big three," Keldon Johnson said. "Me and Blake were in the gym last night shooting. To see a rookie like that hit a big shot, I couldn't do anything but smile. Everybody stepped up in the second half. We stepped up on the defensive end. You got to play defense and play for each other."
Defensively, the Spurs struggled in the first half, allowing 83 points, but in the second half, San Antonio smuggled Atlanta defensively, allowing just 35 points. With the win, the Spurs came back from down 24 ... a stark difference compared to their 29-point collapse the previous game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Wesley's heroics were a big reason why the team was able to complete the comeback.
"It feels good. We're all happy. We didn't want to go out like the other night," Wesley said. "So to bounce back and get this win is huge for us. We didn't play good physicality in the first half but in the second half, we picked it up and you see the results,"
Wesley has played just 26 games with the Spurs in his rookie season after spending majority of the year in Austin with the G League team, but seeing him take advantage of an opportunity late in the year proves why San Antonio spent a first-round pick to draft him last summer.
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