The Phoenix Suns lost an absolute heartbreaker tonight in San Antonio. The season series ends up tied at 2 apiece between the teams in their final meeting of the year.
The Suns were in control for a good chunk of the game, but the fourth-quarter chaos got the best of them.
The Spurs turned it over more (14-11), and Phoenix had more second-chance points (14-5). That is a winning combination. Unfortunately for Phoenix, the free-throw line is where they could look at being the reason those numbers offset,
as the Spurs shot 6 more of them and did so while being 15% better from the charity stripe.
Collin Gillespie had 24 points, Devin Booker chipped in with 22, and Jalen Green added 17. Oso Ighodaro had a strong all-around game, posting 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists on 7-10 FG. Victor Wembanyama had 34 points and 12 rebounds, along with the game-winner with 1.1 seconds remaining.
Game Flow
First Half
The Spurs opened up on a 13-7 push, with all five starters getting in on the scoring action early, in typical Spurs fashion. Phoenix started to push back after a pair of explosive takes by Jalen Green, who looked sharp early.
A Ryan Dunn triple tied it up at 21 with just over 2 minutes remaining in the quarter. Despite the strong Spurs start, Phoenix kept chipping away and hung in there early.
Collin Gillespie snapped out of his recent funk early after dropping in a pair of threes. Phoenix led 26-24 after the first quarter, led by Jalen Green’s 9 points. The duo of Gillespie and Green carried the Suns’ offense early.
Gillespie picked up where he left off in the last quarter, with another pair of tough triples to open the second quarter.
Rasheer Fleming had his best dunk of the year over fellow rookie Carter Bryant, which I’m sure you’ve already seen everywhere. If you haven’t, here you go:
The Suns were dominating the boards, 20-to-12, and making the Spurs pay in the interior. Oso Ighodaro provided some steady minutes as well, with 9 points (4-6 FG), 3 assists, and 2 rebounds in his opening 17 minutes of action.
The offensive pace picked up a bit towards the end of the second quarter, but Phoenix held strong. The Suns led 59-52 at the break, paced by 17 points from Jalen Green, 13 from Gillespie, and 9 from Oso Ighodaro. It was a pleasant surprise to see them take a seven-point advantage into the half.
Second Half
The Spurs’ physical intensity defensively picked up a bit as they cut the lead to just five early in the third. There were 8 fouls called between the teams in the opening five minutes to back up that last sentence. It was getting chippy out there.
Phoenix would be without Amir Coffey for the remainder of the game due to a sprained ankle, per the team. Another blow for an already thin Suns squad.
Devin Booker had 5 of the Suns’ 11 points early in the third.
The Suns and Spurs traded buckets through the opening 6 minutes of the 3rd quarter, with San Antonio leading 14-11 in the period. Giving credit to the Spurs’ defense first and foremost, but the Suns’ offense really started to struggle to generate good looks.
The Spurs successfully challenged on a Devin Booker drive to the rim, where it looked like he was tripped up, but they deemed it a no-call.
Booker started to heat up and take over in the third, exploding to the rim, generating fouls, and playing like the Devin Booker we all know and love. He poured in 14 points in the quarter, connecting on 6 of his 7 free throw attempts.
The Suns led 79-73 heading into the 4th quarter, withstanding a Spurs surge early in the quarter.
Phoenix opened the 4th on a 10-6 push. A Collin Gillespie three-pointer bounced on the rim about three times before dropping in. It came after an extra possession was generated, and Gillespie did a ring around the rosie, then hit Oso and relocated for the spot-up triple.
The Spurs continued to swing back any time it seemed like they had a chance to extend the lead.
Khaman Maluach got a “brings the boom” from Kevin Ray on a strong roll to the rim. De’Aaron Fox followed that up with a triple to steal back some of the momentum.
Rasheer Fleming made an incredible closeout block on a Fox three-pointer the next possession, only for him to fumble the pass to Jalen Green, and long story short, the Spurs got the ball, and Wemby drilled a three right after to cut it to four points and shift the momentum in the Spurs’ favor.
A clutch Jordan Goodwin corner three gave the Suns a five point led with a little over a minute left.
Rasheer Fleming caught the ball in the corner and got fouled with 11 seconds left. Sending him to the line was not what the Suns had in mind, and the Spurs knew it. They fouled him immediately. He missed both, as each shot rimmed out.
And well, you know the rest. I’ll spare you from seeing that video again.
Up Next
Phoenix finally gets to return home to the desert. They will face the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
