INGLEWOOD, Calif. \u2013 Victor Wembanyama had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs overcame an early 14-point deficit before blowing most of a 24-point lead and recovering to hold off the Los Angeles Clippers 119-115 on Monday night.<\/p>\n
Stephon Castle had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead the Spurs (50-18), who reached 50 wins for the first time since 2016-17 and trail the first-place Thunder by three games in the West. Devin Vassell added 20 points.<\/p>\n
Fighting to secure a spot for the play-in tournament, the Clippers\u2019 second straight loss dropped them back to .500 with Kawhi Leonard watching from the bench. The NBA\u2019s sixth-leading scorer sat out with a sprained left knee. <\/p>\n
Darius Garland led six Clippers in double figures with 25 points and 10 assists. Jordan Miller had 22 points off the bench, which outscored the Spurs\u2019 reserves 57-30.<\/p>\n
After the Spurs ran off seven in a row to lead 115-102, Garland scored seven of the Clippers\u2019 nine points to get within four with 38 seconds remaining. But the Spurs made four straight free throws to preserve the win.<\/p>\n
The Spurs led by 24 points in the third before the Clippers closed with a 16-3 run to trail by 10 going into the fourth.<\/p>\n
The Spurs started slowly, missing eight of their first nine shots, while the Clippers surged to a 17-3 lead. They shot 65% from the floor in the opening quarter, hit 5 of 7 3-pointers and made 10 of 12 free throws.<\/p>\n
San Antonio turned things around in the second. The Spurs erased all of their 14-point deficit, helped by 15 straight points over the end of the first and start of the second. In the period, they outscored the Clippers 37-15 to lead 66-52 at halftime.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
Spurs: Visit Sacramento on Tuesday to complete a back-to-back.<\/p>\n
Clippers: Visit New Orleans on Wednesday to open a three-game trip.<\/p>\n
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