Victor Wembanyama racked up 29 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocked shots and San Antonio’s supporting cast made the plays down the stretch as the visiting Spurs outlasted the New Orleans Pelicans 120-116 in overtime on Friday.
Wembanyama hit the first basket of the extra period before fouling out with 4:17 to go and the Spurs leading 109-107. After a free throw by the Pelicans’ Derik Queen, Devin Vassell canned a 3-pointer and Stephon Castle added one from the charity stripe to push the San Antonio lead to five points.
Julian Champagnie’s 3-pointer made it 116-110, and the Pelicans came up empty on their next two possessions. After two more Castle free throws, New Orleans went on a 6-0 run, capped by Jeremiah Fears’ layup with 3.8 seconds left, that brought New Orleans to within two points. Harrison Barnes then made two free throws for the Spurs to seal the victory.
Vassell added 23 points, Castle had 16 points and Luke Kornet added 14 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for the Spurs (2-0). Rookie Dylan Harper scored 13 points and Keldon Johnson \grabbed 10 rebounds each in the win.
Zion Williamson led the Pelicans (0-2) with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, while Trey Murphy III had a double-double of his own with 24 points and 10 boards. Jordan Poole scored 21 points, Queen tallied 15 and Fears had 13 for New Orleans.
San Antonio led 104-98 with 2:38 to play before the Pelicans roared back. Two free throws by Fears, a Poole jumper and a putback by Murphy tied the game with 58 seconds left. Williamson’s jumper with 31.5 seconds remaining then put New Orleans up by two.
The Spurs broke the run and took the lead when Castle canned a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left. Williamson then went one-on-one with Wembanyama, was fouled, and made the first of two free throws to tie the game with 12.1 seconds left. He missed the second, giving San Antonio a chance for the win in regulation.
But Wembanyama missed on a desperate 3-pointer from the corner, sending the game into an extra period.
A pair of free throws by Williamson with 0.8 seconds remaining in the second quarter gave the Pelicans a 58-57 lead at the break. Poole led all scorers with 14 points before halftime, while Murphy had 13 and Williamson racked up 12 points and six rebounds. Kornet and Wembanyama had a dozen points each to pace the Spurs’ attack in the half as Vassell added 11 points.
