Incredible finish in Phoenix. The Suns, who had been ahead throughout the game, brought Wemby and his teammates back into the game, trailing by 20 points midway through the third quarter and staging a sensational comeback in the final seconds. The Frenchman achieved his first away win in the NBA, at the end of a game full of a thousand emotions. Wembanyama started with the handbrake on, missing his first five throws from the field and then – near the end of the first half – gave the Phoenix crowd a cinematic dunk. In the second half, Phoenix, still without Booker and Beal, seemed easily able to take control of the game, but Vassell’s three-pointer in the final quarter and a certain frugality from KD and his teammates opened the door to a sensational return from Pop’s team. Durant’s basket with 1’03” left brings Phoenix back to +5 and appears to give the home team peace, but Wemby brings the Spurs closer 14″ later from mid-range. Watanabe fails to equalize for the Suns, and with San Antonio trailing by three points, Vassell fires a long-range shot eight seconds before the siren, but it hits the rim. Rookie wonder Wembanyama grabs the offensive rebound and dunks for -1. Phoenix calls for a timeout and hands the ball to KD. The Spurs’ excellent double allows Johnson to make a sensational recovery (probably with the help of an unnoticed foul on the Suns’ leader), and the Texan puts the guests in the lead for the first time with a dunk. But there is still one second left on the clock It’s the night of Spurs and Wembanyamas (18 points, with 6/12 from the field, eight rebounds, one assist and four blocks) and Kevin Durant’s shot at the end missed the target. The Suns suffered a surreal defeat.
Phoenix: Durant 26 (11/16, 1/3, 1/2 TL), Gordon 20, Allen 19. Rebounds: Nurkic 12. Assists: Durant 7.
San Antonio: Johnson 27 (6/11, 4/9, 3/4 TL), Wembanyama, Vassell 18. Rebounds: Wembanyama 8. Assists: Vassell 5.
