NBA: Dejounte Murray, Spurs ground Hawks
Dejounte Murray #5 of the San Antonio Spurs congratulates Doug McDermott #17 of the San Antonio Spurs during game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half at AT&T Center on January 19, 2022 in San Antonio,Texas. Ronald Cortes/Getty Images/AFP
Dejounte Murray recorded his 11th triple-double of the season and the visiting San Antonio Spurs rolled to a 136-121 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.
Murray tied his career-high with 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting, tied his career high with 15 assists and added 10 rebounds. He now has 15 career triple-doubles, surpassing David Robinson for the all-time franchise lead.
Dejounte Murray is COOKING!
He has a 30 point triple-double for the @spurs on NBA League Pass: https://t.co/oz9UCQxdQa pic.twitter.com/iOCC31n4uF
— NBA (@NBA) February 12, 2022
Keldon Johnson added 26 points and Devin Vassell scored 20 points. The Spurs shot 55.6 percent from the field, just shy of their season-best of 57.4 percent, and were 18-for-32 (56.3 percent) on 3-pointers.
The Spurs were able to keep Atlanta’s Trae Young under wraps. Young, who averages 25.9 points in seven career games against San Antonio, scored only six in the first half and finished with 18 points and 11 assists.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 23 and Danilo Gallinari scored 16, allowing him to surpass the 11,000-point career mark. Atlanta’s John Collins left the game after 21 minutes with right heel pain and did not return.
The teams split their two-game season series.
The Spurs dominated the first quarter and set a season high for most points in a quarter, taking a 43-27 lead. San Antonio was 8-for-10 on 3s — Atlanta had only two — and shot 65.2 percent from the floor.
The Hawks got as close as six points in the second quarter, but the Spurs regained control with an 8-0 run and led 73-56 at the half. Jakob Poeltl threw in a 3-pointer from halfcourt as the horn sounded to stretch the lead to 17.
The Spurs started the third quarter on a 9-2 streak to extend the lead to 24 points and were able to withstand a late run that allowed the Hawks to trim the margin to 12. San Antonio scored the final four points and took a 103-87 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Spurs continue their eight-game road trip on Saturday at New Orleans. Atlanta plays at Boston on Sunday afternoon.
