Spurs hold on for win over Kawhi Leonard-less Clippers
Victor Wembanyama scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Stephon Castle added 23 points and eight assists and the San Antonio Spurs continued their late-season surge with a 119-115 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday at Inglewood, Calif.
Devin Vassell put up 20 points and De'Aaron Fox added 18 as the Spurs improved to an NBA-best 18-2 since the start of February. San Antonio took charge in the second quarter, when it outscored Los Angeles 37-15.
Second in the Western Conference standings, the Spurs moved within three games of the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder.
Darius Garland totaled 25 points and 10 assists as the Clippers played without leading scorer Kawhi Leonard, who sprained his left ankle in a loss to the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. Jordan Miller added a career-high-tying 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 16 points and John Collins added 11 as Los Angeles fell to 7-3 since the start of March.
The Clippers were aggressive early, taking a 13-1 lead and holding a 17-3 advantage 4:30 into the game. Los Angeles led 37-29 after the first quarter.
Wembanyama scored 11 points in the second quarter as the Spurs shot 51.9% from the floor, forced eight Clippers turnovers and had a 15-7 rebounding advantage while taking a 66-52 lead into halftime.
The Spurs led by as many as 24 points (87-63) with 4:52 remaining in the third after a 3-pointer from Harrison Barnes before the Clippers rallied within 92-82 heading into the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles pulled within 105-98 on a put-back underneath by Miller with 5:24 remaining, and Mathurin cut the Clippers' deficit to 108-102 on a layup with 4:15 left. A Garland 3-pointer with 38.7 seconds left got Los Angeles to within 115-111 before the Spurs put it away by sinking four free throws in the final 30.4 seconds.
The loss dropped the Clippers to 4-11 without Leonard this season.