Spurs capitalize on Suns’ shortcomings, win 7th straight
Stephon Castle scored 20 points as the San Antonio Spurs owned the middle two periods and dominated the short-handed Phoenix Suns 121-94 on Thursday in Austin, Texas, to win their seventh straight game.
San Antonio led by a dozen points at halftime before all but putting away the game by outscoring the Suns by 15 points over the 6 1/2 minutes after the break. The Spurs led 98-71 entering the fourth quarter, with the margin all but assuring that San Antonio's starters would sit out most of the final period.
Victor Wembanyama added 17 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and four assists in three quarters for the Spurs. Dylan Harper scored 17 points and De'Aaron Fox tallied 15 while Devin Vassell had 12 and Luke Kornet hit for 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field.
Jalen Green's 24 points led the Suns, who have dropped two straight and four of their past five. Mark Williams added 11 points and 10 rebounds, with Jordan Goodwin and Oso Ighodaro hitting for 10 points apiece.
Devin Booker missed the second half for Phoenix with right hip soreness after scoring five points in nine minutes of action before halftime. Grayson Allen was held out with a sprained ankle and Dillon Brooks was not with the team as he served a one-game suspension for technical foul accumulation.
The early minutes went back and forth with five lead changes before the Spurs took charge, eventually going up by eight on a pair of Fox free throws at the 1:44 mark of the first quarter. San Antonio settled for a 30-25 advantage after 12 minutes of play despite Green's 11 points.
The Spurs reeled off the first 13 points of the second quarter, capped by a driving layup by Castle with 8:19 to play, stoking San Antonio's margin to 43-25. The Suns trimmed their deficit to a dozen when Williams threw down a dunk two minutes later.
But San Antonio swung back, building its lead to 19 on Kornet's reverse dunk off a pick-and-roll with 2:42 until halftime. Royce O'Neale's 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left in the half allowed Phoenix to pull to within 61-49 at the break.
Green's 14 points before halftime paced all scorers. Castle had 13 for the Spurs, with Wembanyama adding 10 in the half.