Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs square off against the up-and-down Indiana Pacers on Monday in an interconference game between teams looking to get back on the winning track.
San Antonio heads north for the second game of a home-road back-to-back set after a 123-116 overtime loss to Toronto on Sunday afternoon. Keldon Johnson paced the Spurs with 26 points while Zach Collins had 21 points and 11 rebounds. Wembanyama racked up 20 points and a career-high five blocked shots, Malaki Branham added 16 points and Doug McDermott tallied 12 points off the bench in the defeat.
The Spurs built a 22-point edge late in the second quarter, were up by 19 at the half, and led by 15 points after three quarters but succumbed to a furious Toronto rally in the fourth quarter that sent the game to an extra period. San Antonio quickly fell behind by six points in overtime and never recovered, with the result snapping a two-game winning streak
San Antonio was outscored by 27 points from beyond the arc in the loss.
The Pacers play the third game of a five-game homestand and have dropped three of their past four outings, most recently a 125-124 setback against Charlotte on Saturday. The loss, the second of a home back-to-back and Indiana’s third game in four nights, was suffered despite a career-high-tying 43 points by guard Tyrese Haliburton, who also dished out 12 assists.
Haliburton made eight 3-pointers in the loss and racked up his fifth double-double in as many games this season. All of Haliburton’s points came in the final three quarters, 25 of them were scored in the third quarter and 30 were tallied after halftime.
The Pacers had two chances to tie or win the game in the final minute. First, Buddy Hield missed a free throw that would have finished off a three-point play and tied the score and then Haliburton was well-defended on the final possession and could not produce a game-winner. Hield added 19 points for Indiana while Myles Turner had 14, Obi Toppin hit for 11 points and Jalen Smith finished with 11 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
