San Antonio played this one without Devin Vassell (groin) and Tobias Harris (calf). The Vassell news came out the day of the game, so his 15 points from the Portland win had to come from somewhere else. Dylan Harper picked up most of it with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. De'Aaron Fox nearly had a triple-double with 15, 9 and 6. Before tip, the Suns' moneyline only got longer as the day went on, and the game did nothing to argue with that.
Phoenix's way to win started with a fast start, the same one that built a 19-point lead on Houston. It lost the first quarter 31-25 and never led the scoreboard in any meaningful way after that. San Antonio won all 4 quarters. The 30-21 second quarter opened the game up, and the 32-22 third ended it.
Devin Booker held up his end with 32 points and 4 assists. Then you look for the second Phoenix scorer and find Khaman Maluach at 11 points and 5 rebounds. Against a defense with Wembanyama at the rim, one guard getting to his spots isn't enough, and Phoenix's 96 is what that looks like. In the Houston win Booker's late burst decided a close game. This time it hardly moved the score.
The Spurs' offense was efficient all the way through: 46-of-90 from the field (51.1%), 11-of-30 from 3 and 19-of-25 at the line. The worry about this being their third road game in 4 nights never showed up. Resting the starters early in Portland looks like it paid off. For Phoenix, the pattern from its recent losses held. The Suns gave up 116 or more in each of their 3 losses in the last 5, and San Antonio put up 122.
San Antonio is now 9-2 and has won 5 straight per the form card, and every one of those wins came by double figures except the 1-point escape against Dallas. Phoenix drops to 3-6. The 2-game win streak that sounded like progress turned out to be a short break between losses to good teams.
The takeaway is simple. As long as the Spurs keep getting real scoring from Harper and Fox around Wembanyama, missing Vassell and Harris costs them very little. The Suns' problem is the opposite. Until Williams is back, any team with a big who can score will get the kind of night Wembanyama just had.
