{"id":621114,"date":"2026-02-24T04:37:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T04:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/621114\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T04:37:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T04:37:29","slug":"tempers-flare-in-spurs-pistons-game-in-a-matchup-of-2-of-nbas-top-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/621114\/","title":{"rendered":"Tempers flare in Spurs-Pistons game in a matchup of 2 of NBA’s top teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT (AP) \u2014 The San Antonio Spurs<\/a> refused to let the Detroit Pistons<\/a> rough them up, responding to physical play with toughness and talent, in a potential preview of the NBA<\/a> Finals.<\/p>\n

Victor Wembanyama<\/a> had 21 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks, Devin Vassell<\/a> scored 28 and San Antonio beat Detroit 114-103 on Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a night where we confirmed progression and confirmed potential as well,” Wembanyama said. \u201cThat was a good test.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Spurs passed it \u2014 even with their superstar struggling with his shot.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama was 6 of 16 and his teammates more than made up for it with Vassell making seven 3-pointers and three other teammates scoring in double figures. The Spurs combined to make 18 of 40 shots beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know how talented Wemby is and how impactful he can be, but it\u2019s not a one-man show over there,\u201d Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. \u201cThey have a bunch of talented perimeter players.”<\/p>\n

The Spurs have won a season-high nine games in a row and trail only the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

The Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, who had won five straight, host Oklahoma City on Wednesday night in another opportunity to find out how they measure up against the league’s best teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter who the opponent is, our guys are looking forward to those challenges,” Bickerstaff said.<\/p>\n

Cade Cunningham<\/a> ended up missing 21 of 26 shots and finishing with 16 points and 10 assists with Stephon Castle<\/a> guarding him most of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what the playoffs are like, but I know we\u2019re going to need some of that,\u201d said Wembanyama, who is in his third season with a franchise that hasn’t been in the postseason since 2019.<\/p>\n

Detroit, meanwhile, is trying to take the next step this season by advancing in the playoffs for the first time since 2008.<\/p>\n

The Pistons had one of the most remarkable turnarounds in league history last season and ended a 15-game losing streak in the playoffs in the first round against the New York Knicks<\/a>, but they were eliminated.<\/p>\n

Against the Spurs, tempers flared in the first half.<\/p>\n

Cunningham was called for an offensive foul after extending his arms and knocking Castle down on the court. Spurs forward Keldon Johnson<\/a> responded by pushing Cunningham and Pistons center Jalen Duren<\/a>, who was recently suspended by the league, pointed his right finger in Johnson’s face.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat sparked a lot of energy on our team because we\u2019re not going to back down,” Castle said.<\/p>\n

After a review, Johnson and Duren were called for technical fouls in the second quarter of the closely contested game.<\/p>\n

The NBA suspended center Isaiah Stewart<\/a> for seven games earlier this month after he left the bench during a fight in Detroit’s game at Charlotte, and he was still serving the suspension during San Antonio’s visit. Duren was forced to sit for two games for initiating the altercation.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama said Detroit plays \u201cbully ball,\u201d and added that he was glad to experience their physical style.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is probably the team that is most capable of playing that ball,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Spurs, it turns out, can handle themselves just fine against teams like the Pistons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are going to test your toughness,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “Detroit just toes the line. I don\u2019t think they cross it.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/NBA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT (AP) \u2014 The San Antonio Spurs refused to let the Detroit Pistons rough them up, responding to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,909,188,2725,1016,912,2850,1407,6,11,474,930,693],"class_list":{"0":"post-621114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-playoffs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-cade-cunningham","10":"tag-detroit-pistons","11":"tag-devin-vassell","12":"tag-isaiah-stewart","13":"tag-jalen-duren","14":"tag-keldon-johnson","15":"tag-national-basketball-association","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-nba-playoffs","18":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","19":"tag-stephon-castle","20":"tag-victor-wembanyama"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116123759038631405","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}