{"id":500939,"date":"2026-02-24T12:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T12:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/500939\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T12:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T12:22:14","slug":"spurs-pass-good-test-in-physical-clash-with-pistons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/500939\/","title":{"rendered":"Spurs pass ‘good test’ in physical clash with Pistons"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT — The San Antonio Spurs<\/a> refused to let the Detroit Pistons<\/a> rough them up, responding to physical play with toughness and talent, in a potential preview of the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

Victor Wembanyama<\/a> had 21 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks, Devin Vassell<\/a> scored 28 and San Antonio beat Detroit 114-103<\/a> on Monday night.<\/p>\n

“It’s definitely a night where we confirmed progression and confirmed potential as well,” Wembanyama said. “That was a good test.”<\/p>\n

The Spurs passed it — even with their superstar struggling with his shot.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama was 6-of-16 and his teammates more than made up for it with Vassell making seven 3-pointers and three other teammates scoring in double figures. The Spurs combined to make 18 of 40 shots beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

“We know how talented Wemby is and how impactful he can be, but it’s not a one-man show over there,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “They have a bunch of talented perimeter players.”<\/p>\n

The Spurs have won a season-high nine games in a row and trail only the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

The Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, who had won five straight, host Oklahoma City on Wednesday night in another opportunity to find out how they measure up against the league’s best teams.<\/p>\n

“No matter who the opponent is, our guys are looking forward to those challenges,” Bickerstaff said.<\/p>\n

Cade Cunningham<\/a> ended up missing 21 of 26 shots and finishing with 16 points and 10 assists with Stephon Castle<\/a> guarding him most of the game.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know what the playoffs are like, but I know we’re going to need some of that,” said Wembanyama, who is in his third season with a franchise that hasn’t been in the postseason since 2019.<\/p>\n

Detroit, meanwhile, is trying to take the next step this season by advancing in the playoffs for the first time since 2008.<\/p>\n

The Pistons had one of the most remarkable turnarounds in league history last season and ended a 15-game losing streak in the playoffs in the first round against the New York Knicks<\/a>, but they were eliminated.<\/p>\n

Against the Spurs, tempers flared in the first half.<\/p>\n

Cunningham was called for an offensive foul after extending his arms and knocking Castle down on the court. Spurs forward Keldon Johnson<\/a> responded by pushing Cunningham and Pistons center Jalen Duren<\/a>, who was recently suspended by the league, pointed his right finger in Johnson’s face.<\/p>\n

“That sparked a lot of energy on our team because we’re not going to back down,” Castle said.<\/p>\n

After a review, Johnson and Duren were called for technical fouls in the second quarter of the closely contested game.<\/p>\n

The NBA suspended center Isaiah Stewart<\/a> for seven games earlier this month after he left the bench during a fight in Detroit’s game at Charlotte, and he was still serving the suspension during San Antonio’s visit. Duren was forced to sit for two games for initiating the altercation.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama said Detroit plays “bully ball,” and added that he was glad to experience the Pistons’ physical style.<\/p>\n

“This is probably the team that is most capable of playing that ball,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Spurs, it turns out, can handle themselves just fine against teams like the Pistons.<\/p>\n

“They are going to test your toughness,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “Detroit just toes the line. I don’t think they cross it.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT — The San Antonio Spurs refused to let the Detroit Pistons rough them up, responding to physical…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-500939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}