Devin Vassell poured in 28 points, including seven 3-pointers, and the visiting San Antonio Spurs stretched their winning streak to nine games by cooling off the Detroit Pistons, 114-103, on Monday.
Victor Wembanyama supplied 21 points, 17 rebounds, six blocks and four assists in the matchup between the Western Conference’s second-place team and the Eastern Conference leaders.
Julian Champagnie had 17 points and Stephon Castle contributed 16 points and 11 assists. De’Aaron Fox added 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Jalen Duren led the Pistons with 25 points and 14 rebounds. All-Star Cade Cunningham had 16 points and 10 assists but made just 5 of 26 field goal attempts.
Ronald Holland had 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, while Duncan Robinson tossed in 13 points. Paul Reed chipped in 10 points.
The Pistons, who had won five straight, were held to 37.7% shooting, including a 7-for-36 success rate on 3-point attempts (19.4%).
Vassell fired in a trio of 3-pointers before the game was two minutes old. San Antonio was up 12 points after three minutes but Detroit quickly recovered and led 27-24 when the first quarter ended.
San Antonio led 57-55 at the break. Vassell finished the half with 18 points and Champagnie had 12. Holland led the Pistons with 11 points.
A 13-2 run midway through the third quarter gave the Spurs a 74-64 lead. Castle scored eight points during that span, capping it off with a three-point play. San Antonio carried an 83-75 lead into the fourth.
The Spurs boosted the lead to 15 points by scoring the first seven points of the quarter. Wembanyama made two free throws, Vassell hit another 3-pointer and Castle made a layup during that span.
The Pistons eventually pulled within nine points but another Castle layup nudged San Antonio’s advantage to 12, 105-93, with 3:45 remaining.
Wembanyama closed out San Antonio’s win with seven points in the last 2:19, including a pair of dunks
