Spurs Vs Nets: Julian Champagnie’s 26 lifts San Antonio to 126-110 win in New York
The Spurs beat the Nets 126-110 in New York on Thursday night, a result in the spurs vs nets matchup that stretched San Antonio’s winning streak to 11 games and left the team unbeaten in February.
Champagnie leads while Wembanyama has another quiet night
Julian Champagnie scored 26 points to lead the Spurs in the 126-110 victory. Champagnie shot 6-of-9 on 3-pointers, added three steals and two blocks. Victor Wembanyama had his second straight quiet night offensively, finishing with 12 points; another account of the game credits Wembanyama with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. San Antonio improved to 43-16 and is on its longest winning streak since it won 13 straight in the 2015-16 season.
Spurs jump early after Wembanyama’s opening tip and Castle’s dunk
It took San Antonio just 13 seconds to take a lead it never relinquished. Wembanyama won the opening tip and dropped a pass to a cutting Stephon Castle for a two-handed dunk. By the end of the opening period Castle had 13 points and the Spurs led 36-22. San Antonio extended the edge to 48-26 on a 3 by Champagnie 2: 20 into the second quarter and led 71-56 at halftime.
Third quarter swings: Brooklyn’s comeback run and Spurs response
Brooklyn opened the third quarter with a 13-4 spurt in the first 3: 26 to cut the deficit to six, and one sequence left the Nets within 75-69 with 8: 34 remaining in the frame. But San Antonio closed the third by outscoring Brooklyn 29-15 and finished the quarter with a 104-84 lead.
Bench production and conflicting Nets scoring totals
San Antonio’s balance showed beyond Champagnie and Wembanyama: Stephon Castle scored 18 points, De'Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell had 14 apiece, Keldon Johnson scored 13 and Dylan Harper had 12. Devin Vassell’s line included 4-of-7 3s, seven rebounds and five assists; Castle made 10-of-12 free throws.
Brooklyn’s Michael Porter Jr. was listed with 14 rebounds and was credited with points in the mid-20s; one account credited him with 24 points and 14 rebounds, while another credited him with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Reserve Day’Ron Sharpe had 14 points and 11 rebounds in one box score, and another account noted that Danny Wolf and Day'Ron Sharpe each contributed 14 points off the bench. The Nets have lost six straight and one account lists their record after the game as 15-43, the second-worst in the East and third-worst in the NBA.
Streak significance, standings chase and what’s next
The 11-game run is the third-longest streak in the NBA this season, behind the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 16 straight and the Detroit Pistons’ 13 consecutive wins. San Antonio’s last defeat came Jan. 31, a 111-106 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, and the Spurs finished February undefeated. Coupled with the Thunder’s loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, the Spurs are now only 1. 5 games back of Oklahoma City for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The two teams do not meet again for the remainder of the regular season; San Antonio has 23 games left and Oklahoma City has 22.
Champagnie said "it means everything" to return to New York, where he played college basketball at St. John's and grew up on Staten Island, and he told the Spurs broadcast team that he had to buy 17 tickets for family and friends. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said, "It feels like the players are finding different ways to win. " San Antonio crosses the East River for a nationally televised matchup against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, a matinee scheduled for 1 p. m. ET; by then the Spurs could be within a game of the Thunder, who host the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
Separate notes: betting model’s Lakers vs. Suns outlook for Friday
A model’s betting preview for a Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns game set for Friday, 02/27 at 02: 00 AM featured its top-rated picks and projections. The preview argued that the Lakers "can't beat the good teams, but they feast on the bad teams, " and described the Suns as having a winning record yet being in poor recent form, having lost six of their last eight and failing to cover seven times in their last eight games. It said the Lakers have lost four of their last six — all to good teams on a home stand — and noted a prior meeting that ended 132-108 on December 23rd when the Lakers won without Luke Doncic. The preview suggested uncertainty about who would play for the Suns that night and added, "it's a good bet it's not going to be Devin Booker, " concluding with a projection that the Lakers would cover. The model also listed picks for other matchups, including Thunder vs. Nuggets and Cavaliers vs. Pistons for Friday's slate, and cited multi-game parlay scenarios for the Feb. 27 NBA odds package.
