The San Antonio Spurs upset the vulnerable Nuggets in Mile High Denver, claiming the top record in West Group C and giving them direct entry into the knockout rounds of Emirates Cup play. Everyone now owes Devin Vassell lunch after his clutch performance, and now the players have the opportunity for some extra dollars because advancing to the quarterfinal means that each member will win at least $53,093 if they go no further, and the two-way players get half of that.
Both teams came out hot and there were very few misses early on. The good guys were able to endure Jamal Murray’s first-quarter flurry because De’Aaron Fox was finding cutters and shooters. Then the bench chipped in with an efficient 13 points while adding four steals. San Antonio headed into the second up eight, and even though their threes weren’t really falling, they put up the most the Nuggets have yielded in any quarter this season (41).
The Nuggets took the lead four minutes later as the Spurs misfired on a bevy of opportunities, and their offensive struggles persisted until halftime as Denver gave them little space to operate on pick and rolls. The hosts went on a 15-0 run, and it quickly turned into one of those nights they wished they had Wemby to slow down Jokic, because the Serbian was dissecting the Spurs defense with his savant-like passing.
San Antonio was down 15 points after the Nuggets had their highest-scoring first half of the season (74). Sixteen of Denver’s 18 second-chance points were in the second quarter. The lid came off the Spurs basket, and they were eventually able to re-take the lead late in the third even though the Nuggets were still on fire from deep, with seven treys.
As the fourth quarter started with the Spurs down one, Vassell and Tim Hardaway Jr. started trading 3-pointers. Harrison Barnes and Keldon Johnson got in on the action, taking a two-point lead before Jokić checked back in. The Nuggets were in the bonus the last four minutes, but the Spurs were bailed out by four Denver turnovers, Murray missing a pivotal free throw with under two minutes left, and Vassell burying two 3-pointers late. The Spurs won 139-136, and had a 30 for 32 performance from the line to (and Devin) to thank for it.