De’Aaron Fox scored 26 points and Harrison Barnes added 23 that included seven straight points in the final, decisive stretch as the short-handed San Antonio Spurs ran past the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 111-101 on Tuesday night.
Both teams were without superstar players as San Antonio was missing Victor Wembanyama (strained calf) and Stephon Castle (strained hip flexor), and the Grizzlies were missing Ja Morant (sprained ankle).
The teams traded the lead throughout the game, with Memphis carrying an 87-86 edge into the fourth quarter. The Spurs were down by a point before Barnes took over, hitting a driving hook, a fadeaway jumper and a 3-pointer, the latter with 53 seconds remaining in the game, to lift San Antonio into a 107-101 lead.
The Spurs’ Keldon Johnson then hit a runner in the lane and Fox hammered home a dunk after a steal to close out the game-winning 11-0 run in emphatic fashion. Johnson contributed 18 points for San Antonio while Devin Vassell and Kelly Olynyk scored 10 points each.
Cedric Coward’s 19-point, 11-rebound double-double led the Grizzlies, who have dropped five straight games. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 18 points, Cam Spencer hit for 15, Vince Williams Jr. produced 14 and Santi Aldama tallied 10 for Memphis, which also got 11 rebounds from Zach Edey.
The Grizzlies roared out of the gate, scoring the game’s first eight points over the initial minute and a half. Memphis was up 17-13 before the Spurs reeled off an 8-0 run capped by Carter Bryant’s 3-pointer to leap in front 21-17. A pair of free throws by Williams with 7 seconds left handed the Grizzlies a 24-23 lead at the end on one period of play.
The front changed hands five times in a ragged second quarter. Memphis expanded its lead to as many as six points early in the period before the Spurs rallied to tie it at 39-39 on Johnson’s layup at the 5:59 mark. A 3-pointer by Johnson with 56 seconds left in the half allowed San Antonio a 49-47 edge at the break.
Barnes led all scorers with 11 points before halftime while Spencer hit for 10 off the bench to pace the Grizzlies. Without Wembanyama to patrol the lane, Memphis took the ball to the hole at every opportunity, scoring 28 of their first-half points in the paint.
