San Antonio at Washington, Final Score: Spurs pop the clutch on the Wizards 131-121

Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

Fox and Wembanyama both score 30 as the Spurs outlast Washington to break a two game losing streak

For the first time in four games, the game didn’t come down to the last possession as the Spurs took control late with De’Aaron Fox dominating in the fourth quarter. Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs got off to a fast start as they rushed out to an 18 point lead in the first quarter. They gave all of that back and more in the second and third quarter as they let the Wizards dominate by converting offensive rebounds into easy points, with Richaun Holmes as the main beneficiary with a ton of easy dunks. Jeremy Sochan had one of his better games this season as he made a major impact on offense and defense scoring 14 points in the game. Stephon Castle continued to be a major contributor, despite getting only 20 minutes of playing time.

The Wizards kept the game close until the final three minutes, when a strategic timeout from Mitch Johnson brought the team together to put together a nice finish to win 131-121. All nine players who got onto the court for Washington scored in double digits, which is a pretty good indication of where the Spurs need to improve as a team. Their defense has been pretty bad recently, but it was good enough at the end of the game tonight for a good road win tonight.

Observations

Writing recaps is easier when the team doesn’t play well, it’s more fun when the team wins. I always prefer fun over easy. Tonight’s game was a little of both, but I enjoy the wins a lot more than the losses.
The Spurs have concluded their season series with the Wizards and have won both games. The only other team this season that they are guaranteed to have an undefeated record is the Atlanta Hawks, a team that they have also beaten twice.
Fox was active early in the game scoring the first six points for the Silver and Black.
Wembanyama hit three triples in a row followed by a sick fadeaway of the elbow for a solo 11-0 run that seemed almost unfair to the home team.
The Spurs led 40-30 after one quarter, but it felt like it should have been more except for the fact that the defense fell apart when Wembanyama went to the bench, as the Wizards finished on a 13-5 run.
Every single game, the Spurs have a stretch where they play like a team that has never seen a basketball before. The only thing you can hope for is that this stretch doesn’t last long enough for the opponent to take control of the game. In this game, that stretch began with the start of the second quarter, when the Wizards retook the lead with a 13-2 run. The Spurs recovered a bit for the rest of the quarter but didn’t retake control of the game.
The Wizards bench outplayed the Spurs bench for the whole game. Justin Champagnie is every bit as good as his brother.
It was funny to hear PJ Carlesimo coach the players from the booth. He was chastising Mamu for going for the pump fake in the second quarter, and we were all saying that at the TV.
That steal and breakaway from Castle in the second quarter was almost Kawhi-esque.
The Spur led 63-60 at the half on a Chris Paul triple after both teams traded baskets for the second part of the quarter.
The Wizards were energized in the third quarter and took advantage early in the quarter, while the Silver and Black turned up the defensive intensity and finally got a little breathing room with an 8 point advantage with a few minutes left, and blew it away with some poor decisions and a puzzling technical foul against Keldon Johnson as the lead almost completely evaporated and they led 100-96 after three quarters.
The offensive rebounding from opponents has been destroying the Spurs on the RRT. The Spurs need to grab defensive rebounds instead of giving the other team repeated chances at scoring. Defense without rebounding is not defensible.
The Spurs offense was really good in the fourth as Fox took over, but the lack of stops made it tough for them to make any progress at getting a lead. It was starting to look like it was going to be another game that came down to the last seconds for the Spurs, and that’s always a bad place to be if you can’t stop the other team from making buckets.
Mitch Johnson called a timeout with 3:24 left in the game to organize the team, and it paid off as the team finished off the game with more cohesion than they’ve shown so far in the road trip and effectively killed the last few minutes to win 131-121.

The Spur head to Boston for a game against the Celtics on Wednesday in their last game before the All Star Break, nationally televised on ESPN. They’ll return to action on February 20 in Austin for a game against the Suns in the Moody Center.