FILE – Keldon Johnson #3 of the San Antonio Spurs dribbles the ball up court in the first half against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on February 23, 2023 in Dallas, Texas. Tim Heitman/Getty Images/AFP
Keldon Johnson had 29 points and 12 rebounds and Devin Vassell added 29 points as the San Antonio Spurs came back from 24 points down to beat the visiting Atlanta Hawks 126-118 on Sunday afternoon.
Atlanta led by 22 points at halftime but gave most of it back in a ragged third quarter, heading to the final period up just 103-100. The Hawks were still ahead at 114-108 until San Antonio forged a 16-0 run behind six points from Zach Collins and five from Blake Wesley to move to the front at 124-114 with 1:54 to play.
The Hawks missed 11 straight shots and had three turnovers in that decisive stretch, after which San Antonio easily closed out the win.
Collins finished with 19 points for San Antonio while Tre Jones and Julian Champagnie scored 11 apiece.
Dejounte Murray led the Hawks with 22 points in his return to San Antonio after being traded by the Spurs in the offseason. Onyeka Okongwu added 17 points, with Clint Capela racking up 15 points and 12 rebounds, AJ Griffin also scoring 15 points and John Collins hitting for 14.
Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell scored 29 each as San Antonio erased a 24 point deficit to get the home W.
The Spurs' second largest comeback over the last 25 years 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5iSYSo3Eja
— NBA (@NBA) March 19, 2023
Trae Young had just nine points on 4-of-15 shooting from the floor for Atlanta.
The Hawks trailed just once in the first quarter before pushing the lead to 38-30 on Bogdan Bogdanovic’s jumper at the 1:46 mark. Atlanta led 40-34 after 12 minutes of play.
A finger roll by Griffin with 8:48 to play in the second period expanded the Hawks’ lead to double digits. A layup by Zach Collins cut into the lead, but Atlanta responded with a 10-0 run that stoked its advantage to 67-50 after Griffin’s floater with 5:09 remaining in the period.
It only got worse from there for the Spurs, as a 3-pointer and a three-point play by John Collins sandwiched around a dunk by Capela gave Atlanta an 83-61 lead at the break. The 83 points surrendered by San Antonio in the half was the most in a first half since 1990, according to the Spurs PR department.
Murray’s 16 points led all scorers before halftime while Griffin added 15 and Bogdanovic had 13 off the bench for Atlanta. Johnson and Vassell paced San Antonio with 13 points each.
The Spurs roared back in the third quarter behind Vassell (14 points in the period) and Johnson (12) to pull within 103-100.