Late Wembanyama steal helps Spurs overcome big Jokic night
DENVER — Victor Wembanyama stole Nikola Jokic’s pass with 4 seconds left, and the San Antonio Spurs held on to beat the Denver Nuggets 113-110 on Friday night.
Wembanyama finished with 35 points and 18 rebounds to help the Spurs overcome a big night from Jokic. The three-time MVP had 41 points, 18 rebounds and 9 assists, falling just short of his 15th triple-double.
It marked the sixth time since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976 — and first since 2019 — to feature dueling 35-point, 15-rebound performances.
Denver had the ball down by one with 17 seconds left. Jokic tried to pass to a teammate, but Wembanyama intercepted it and fed Devin Vassell for a game-sealing dunk.
“We turned the ball over is what went wrong,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “The ball got to Nikola and Jamal (Murray) playing the two-man game. And Nikola had the ball and he tried to make a play, and they were able to get the steal. I can’t remember how many times I’ve seen us do that on the last possession where you’re down.”
Michael Porter Jr. missed a 34-footer at the buzzer that would have sent it to overtime. He finished with 22 points for the Nuggets, whose three-game winning streak ended.
Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson credited his team’s composure.
“I thought every time they had us on the ropes, I thought we kind of composed ourselves and fought ourselves back into the game, which was nice to see,” he said.
Wembanyama picked up his fifth foul with 8:46 left but shook it off to hit two deep 3-pointers to give San Antonio a 97-92 lead with 7:52 left.
Denver rallied to lead by five but the Spurs scored six straight points to take a 109-108 lead and set up the final moments.
Wembanyama, who turns 21 on Saturday, now has three career 35-point, 15-rebound games, breaking a tie with Shaquille O’Neal for the second-most such games in NBA history before a player’s 21st birthday. John Drew leads the way with four.
Jokic, meanwhile, recorded his seventh career game with at least 40 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists, breaking a tie with Joel Embiid for the second-most such games since the merger (Giannis Antetokounmpo has nine). Jokic took 36 shots, the second most of his career.
“I love him being that aggressive,” Malone said. “He scored 41 points tonight, had 18 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals. And the way they were playing him, 1-on-1 coverage, and they were down the floor on pick-and-rolls, and he shot the 3 ball with confidence. He’s one of the best 3-point shooters in the NBA this year, so I loved how aggressive he was.”
Takeaways
Spurs: Wembanyama was unstoppable at times but also committed eight turnovers to nearly register an unwanted triple-double. The rest of the team had only six turnovers.
Nuggets: They were acutely aware of Wembanyama’s presence on defense, dribbling through the paint and shooting fadeaways. Porter showed no fear when he dunked with 2:35 left with Wembanyama near the rim.
Key moment
The teams hit a flurry of 3-pointers midway through the third quarter. The Spurs hit three in a row and Denver made two straight to combine for 15 points in a span of 67 seconds.
Key stat
The Nuggets fell to 2-5 in the first leg of a back-to-back. They have won all six games of the second leg heading into Saturday night.
Up next
The teams meet again Saturday night in San Antonio.
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.
Source: espn.com