The San Antonio Spurs will look to build on a rousing pair of victories when they return home to host the struggling Toronto Raptors on Sunday afternoon.
It might be modest as win streaks go, but it’s how the Spurs won that has all of San Antonio in a fever pitch. The Spurs took two road games in three days from the Phoenix Suns, winning in the final seconds 115-114 on Tuesday after trailing the entire game.
Then they dominated the Suns on Thursday, leading by as many as 27 points before allowing Phoenix to tie things midway through the fourth quarter. That is when rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama took charge, scoring 10 of his 38 points in a final decisive push that granted San Antonio a 132-121 victory.
Wembanyama also grabbed 10 rebounds in Thursday’s win. There were plenty of other contributors as Zach Collins added 19 points, Devin Vassell scored 17, Jeremy Sochan had 14 points, Cedi Osman had 13 and Tre Jones chipped in 12 points and 10 assists. San Antonio shot 52.0 percent and was 18 of 37 (48.6 percent) from 3-point range.
The Raptors absorbed a 114-99 loss at Philadelphia on Thursday, their second defeat at the hands of the 76ers already this season. Scottie Barnes led Toronto with 24 points, becoming the first player in Raptors history age 22 or younger to score 20 points in five straight games since Chris Bosh in 2007.
OG Anunoby added 16 points for Toronto and Dennis Schroder had 13 points and 10 assists. Pascal Siakam was held to 10 points in the setback.
Toronto was whistled for five technical fouls in the loss, which was the second of a home-road back-to-back after defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 130-111 on Wednesday.
The Raptors have dropped four of their past five games and are 0-2 on the road. Sunday’s contest is the second of a four-game road trip that will see Toronto also play at Dallas and Boston. The Raptors have won five straight games against the Spurs dating back to a loss at San Antonio in December of 2020. The Raptors handed the Spurs their worst loss of the 2022-23 season in a 143-100 decision in November of 2022.
