San Antonio at Phoenix, final score: Spurs beat Suns 132-121

The Silver and Black played their best first half of the season tonight, building a 27-point lead early and taking a 75-55 lead at halftime. The Spurs were short-handed in the second half as Devin Vassell came off with left groin tightness, and Devin Booker heated it up in a brutal second half as the Suns battled all the way to a 116-116 tie with 4:21 left. the game. But Victor Wembanyama and Tottenham would not deny it, as they ran a 12-0 run in just over two minutes to put the game out of reach and won by 11.

Victor’s 38 points were impressive, but his presence on defense was also crucial at critical points in the game, especially in crunch time. Victor wasn’t the only star for San Antonio, as Trey Jones had another good night holding down the point, and Jeremy Suchan made key plays on both ends. The Spurs got timely baskets from Cedi Ousmane to hold the lead, and Zach Collins had his best game of the year so far with 19 points. Victor was the star of the night, but it was a win for the Silver and Black as they withstood Phoenix’s best shots and fought back to win 132-121.

Music break:

If you think a song called “Seasons in the Sun” is going to be a happy song, you’re wrong. Really, really, wrong. It’s mostly about death.

Notes

• Sean Elliott talked about the big comeback of his career in the pregame, and of course the miracle of the Memorial Game against the Trail Blazers came up. Maybe one day, the Halloween miracle of 2023 will be viewed in a similar way in a historic Tottenham sanctuary.
• Wembanyama missed the opening tip, which may be one of the very few times you see that.
• The Spurs scored the first 13 points of the game, so concerns about the team breaking away from a win on Tuesday may have been a bit exaggerated.
• The Suns offense was truly disrupted by Wimpanyama’s presence in the paint, and no one besides Durant could do much in the first quarter.
• The Spurs were cold in the first half of Game 1, but tonight they were hotter than frying oil at McDonald’s on Saturday night, hitting 7 or their first 9 three-point shots in the first quarter.
• The Spurs led 39-20 after one quarter, in their most dominant stretch of the season so far.
• Devin Booker looked a little rusty early in the game, and had to exit early in the second quarter by committing 3 quick fouls. By the end of the game, he seemed to have shaken off all the rust, lighting everyone on fire as the Suns tried to make a comeback.
• I think turning Eric Gordon into Victor Wimpanyama isn’t really a good defensive strategy, but the Suns seem to be keeping up with it a lot.
• The Spurs led by 27 points about midway through the second quarter, but the Suns finally started to play better, with Grayson Allen doing a lot of damage, getting wide-open shots off of Durant’s movement.
• The Suns got the bonus early in the second quarter, the only thing they got early on offense.
• The Spurs sent Victor to the line to shoot technical free throws, which makes sense since he’s a great free throw player, and it’s a good way for him to get rhythm shots.
• The Spurs led 75-55 at halftime, outscoring the Suns by one goal in the second quarter, thanks to two late 3-pointers from Wimbanyama.
• A ferocious blow to the jaw from Drew Eubanks’ shoulder flattened Trey Jones before halftime. No foul was called, and it looked intentional. This is no way to treat your former teammate, Drybanks! Trey returned to the game in the second half to prove his toughness in addition to his skill.
• Devin Vassell was ruled out with left groin tightness in the second half, forcing Malky Branham to replace him. Branham’s performance was impressive, providing scoring punch from the perimeter to help the Spurs hold off the Suns.
• The Suns had no answer for Victor Wimpanyama in the paint. The Spurs finally figured out that if they ran the ball high to No. 1, it would be an easy basket. It’s really hard to see how teams will be able to stop this.
• The Spurs showed a bad performance in the third quarter, allowing the Suns to lead 89-103, down 14 points, the same margin that San Antonio overcame in the fourth quarter a few days ago.
• Without Devin Vassell, the Spurs’ offense was limited in the second half, making it difficult to block Booker’s offensive explosion as he heated up late in the game.
• Keita Bates-Diop had a really solid game in his first extended game of the season with the Suns, taking advantage of some open shots.
• When the Spurs were forced to rest Wambanyama early in the fourth quarter, the Suns pulled within three points, with strong contributions from players like KBD and Watanabe complementing Booker’s dominant scoring performance.
• Victor got back into the game with 6 minutes left but KBD’s corner hat-trick tied the game with 4 minutes left.
• A 12-0 run by Wimpanyama and Soshan’s defense gave Spurs a 12-point lead with a minute and a half left.
• The Suns did everything they could to end the game by fouling the Spurs, but the Silver and Black held on to win 132-121.

The Spurs have won both games against the Suns and their record is now 3-2. They return home for a match on Sunday afternoon against Toronto Raptors 2:30 p.m. at Frostback Center.