Suns hold off Spurs for 13th straight win
Deandre Ayton #22 of the Phoenix Suns high fives Devin Booker #1 after scoring against the Dallas Mavericks during the second half of the NBA game at Footprint Center on November 17, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP
Devin Booker scored 23 points, and Deandre Ayton had 21 points and 14 rebounds, as the visiting Phoenix Suns had just enough in their tank to outlast the San Antonio Spurs 115-111 on Monday to win their 13th consecutive game.
The Suns’ streak is their longest since the 2006-07 season when they won a franchise-high 17 straight.
The Suns (14-3), playing the second game of a home-road back-to-back, pulled away from San Antonio early in the second quarter, and led by 13 points at halftime. Phoenix never let the Spurs closer than three points in the second half despite running out of gas in the final minutes.
Dejounte Murray’s steal and running layup brought the Spurs to within 114-111 with 15.2 seconds to play but Booker hit a free throw with 9.3 seconds left and Phoenix was able to hold on.
Make that 13 STRAIGHT WINS for @DeandreAyton (21p/14r) and the @Suns. ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️ pic.twitter.com/CimZE5ako0
— NBA (@NBA) November 23, 2021
Cameron Payne added 20 points for the Suns, with JaVale McGee scoring 14, Chris Paul 12 and Landry Shamet 11.
Derrick White led the Spurs with 19 points while Murray had a triple double (18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds), Devin Vassell hit for 17 points, Jakob Poeltl had 15 and Lonnie Walker IV 11.
San Antonio (4-12) has lost a season-high five straight games and is off to its worst start since the 1996-97 season, when it finished 20-62.
The Suns used a late first-quarter run to tie the game at 20, then pushed their lead to a dozen after a McGee turnaround jumper at the 8:11 mark of the second period. Phoenix built its lead to as many as 15 points on Jae Crowder’s 3-pointer with 3:49 to play in the quarter and took a 57-44 advantage into the break.
Ayton led all scorers with 14 points at halftime. Phoenix outshot the Spurs 50 percent to 43.2 percent and made 7 of their 14 shots from beyond the arc in the first 24 minutes.
Vassell paced the Spurs with 10 off the bench in the first half. San Antonio, which is 29th in the league in free throw percentage (69.4 percent) was just 4-for-11 from the line in the half.
