The San Antonio Spurs stormed Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on Monday with a 103-114 victory over the Pistons, the league’s most in-form team, to put a big blow on the table in the title race.
It was the first time this season that the Pistons and Spurs, first and third in winning percentage in the NBA, met again on March 5, this time in San Antonio.
Wembanyama makes his mark in the NBA
The San Antonio Spurs have won five of six meetings against the West and East leaders, the Oklahoma City Thunder (4 of 5) and the Detroit Pistons (1 of 1).
Devin Vassell led the Spurs on offense with 28 points after starting the game with three straight three-pointers off three attempts.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds, while Julian Champagnie contributed 17 points and Stephon Castle had 16.
The San Antonio Spurs were strong on defense, with 8 steals, 11 blocks and forcing 15 Pistons turnovers.
From which they scored 21 points that ended up making the difference on the scoreboard.
Wembanyama alone was responsible for 6 of the San Antonio Spurs’ 11 blocked shots.
The Frenchman, in fact, leads the NBA in blocked shots this season with 121, despite missing 14 games due to injury.
Historic streak extended
For the Pistons, Jalen Duran had 25 points and 14 rebounds and was key in the second half to keep Detroit alive.
Cade Cunningham was held to 16 points after a dismal 5-of-26 shooting from the field (19.2%), including 2-of-9 three-pointers.
Cunningham played the entire game with Castle and Wembanyama on top.
Despite their superiority in the paint (62-44 for Detroit), the Pistons succumbed from the perimeter with 7-of-36 three-pointers (19.4%) to the San Antonio Spurs’ 18-of-40 (45%).
A statement win in the title race
QuéOnnda.com
With their win in Detroit, the San Antonio Spurs have now won nine in a row, their best streak in seven years.
San Antonio (41-16) are second in the West just 2.5 wins behind the Thunder (44-14).
They also snapped a six-game winning streak for the Pistons (42-14), who continue to lead the East by a wide margin over the Boston Celtics (37-19).
But with this defeat they lose their status as the team with the best winning percentage.
With information from EFE
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