INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs overcame an early 14-point deficit before blowing most of a 24-point lead and recovering to hold off the Los Angeles Clippers 119-115 on Monday night.
Stephon Castle had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead the Spurs (50-18), who reached 50 wins for the first time since 2016-17 and trail the first-place Thunder by three games in the West.
Devin Vassell added 20 points.
Fighting to secure a spot for the play-in tournament, the Clippers' second straight loss dropped them back to .500 with Kawhi Leonard watching from the bench. The NBA's sixth-leading scorer sat out with a sprained left knee.
Darius Garland led six Clippers in double figures with 25 points and 10 assists. Jordan Miller had 22 points off the bench, which outscored the Spurs' reserves 57-30.
After the Spurs ran off seven in a row to lead 115-102, Garland scored seven of the Clippers' nine points to get within four with 38 seconds remaining. But the Spurs made four straight free throws to preserve the win.
The Spurs led by 24 points in the third before the Clippers closed with a 16-3 run to trail by 10 going into the fourth.
The Spurs started slowly, missing eight of their first nine shots, while the Clippers surged to a 17-3 lead. They shot 65% from the floor in the opening quarter, hit 5 of 7 3-pointers and made 10 of 12 free throws.
San Antonio turned things around in the second. The Spurs erased all of their 14-point deficit, helped by 15 straight points over the end of the first and start of the second. In the period, they outscored the Clippers 37-15 to lead 66-52 at halftime.
Spurs: Visit Sacramento on Tuesday to complete a back-to-back.
Clippers: Visit New Orleans on Wednesday to open a three-game trip.
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