4th-quarter rally sends Spurs past Raptors for 10th straight win
Devin Vassell scored 21 points Wednesday night and the visiting San Antonio Spurs rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the Toronto Raptors 110-107 for their 10th consecutive win.
San Antonio outscored Toronto 32-17 in the final period after trailing by 15 late in the third.
De'Aaron Fox added 20 points for the Spurs, and Victor Wembanyama produced 12 points and five blocked shots. Dylan Harper put up 15 points, Stephon Castle scored 13 and Julian Champagnie scored 10.
Brandon Ingram tallied 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost two straight, and Immanuel Quickley also scored 20 points. Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl each had 15 points, while RJ Barrett and Jamal Shead logged 12 apiece.
The Raptors produced a 31-21 third-quarter edge, leading 90-75 before taking a 12-point lead into the fourth.
The Spurs showed more energy when they opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 spurt. The game was tied at 96 when Fox drained a corner 3-pointer with 6:37 left.
San Antonio led by three on Champagnie's corner 3-pointer with 5:42 to play. Wembanyama's corner trey bumped the margin to 106-100 with 3:42 left.
Poeltl scored four straight points to cut the gap to two with 1:47 to play before Fox answered with a 10-footer. Quickley's layup sliced the lead to two with 21.9 seconds to play.
Harper missed two free throws but nabbed his own rebound, then made 1 of 2 at the line with 10.7 seconds left.
Quickley made 1 of 2 foul shots a second later, and Wembanyama split two free throws with 8.7 seconds to go. Ingram's 3-point attempt that would have tied the game hit the side of the backboard.
San Antonio led 30-29 after one quarter.
The Spurs scored the first five points of the second quarter. The Raptors responded with a 10-0 run to lead by four, and they were up 59-57 at halftime.
Neither team could break away early in the third quarter. Things changed when the Raptors opened an eight-point lead with 4:16 to play on Barrett's layup after Poeltl snared a rebound. The gap stretched to 15 as Quickley and Shead each posted 10 points in the period.