{"id":621189,"date":"2026-02-24T05:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T05:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/621189\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T05:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T05:25:15","slug":"tempers-flare-in-spurs-pistons-game-in-a-matchup-of-2-of-nbas-top-teams-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/621189\/","title":{"rendered":"Tempers flare in Spurs-Pistons game in a matchup of 2 of NBA’s top teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT \u2013 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 scored 28 and San Antonio beat Detroit<\/a> 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 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 ended up missing 21 of 26 shots and finishing with 16 points and 10 assists with Stephon Castle 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<\/a> in league history last season and ended a 15-game losing streak in the playoffs in the first round against the New York Knicks, but they were eliminated.<\/p>\n

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

Cunningham<\/a> was called for an offensive foul after extending his arms and knocking Castle down on the court. Spurs forward Keldon Johnson responded by pushing Cunningham and Pistons center Jalen Duren, 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 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 its 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<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2013 The San Antonio Spurs refused to let the Detroit Pistons rough them up, responding to physical…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3797],"tags":[7,909,2725,1016,1648,912,2850,3361,6,969,474,4075,4074,66,534,930,693],"class_list":{"0":"post-621189","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio-spurs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-cade-cunningham","10":"tag-devin-vassell","11":"tag-isaiah-stewart","12":"tag-j-b-bickerstaff","13":"tag-jalen-duren","14":"tag-keldon-johnson","15":"tag-mitch-johnson","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-san-antonio","18":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","19":"tag-sanantonio","20":"tag-sanantoniospurs","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-spurs","23":"tag-stephon-castle","24":"tag-victor-wembanyama"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116123947974231085","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621189","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=621189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}