The San Antonio Spurs denied the Detroit Pistons revenge in the first game at Frost Bank Center since Feb. 7. The difference was that they got everything they wanted at 0-3 feet, plus got a nice boost from second opportunities and playing in transition.
They kept it simple early, running one of the most successful plays coach Mitch Johnson has: give it to Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox. They were shooting stars at long, mid and short range, which took away the Pistons’ transition attack since they had to check the ball in often.
Wemby plus Fox still were unrestrained, keeping their feet on the gas like a boxer trying to close while their opponent was on the ropes. They combined for nearly two-thirds of the team’s first-half points, and the defense didn’t give the Pistons any breaks either, making Cade Cunningham look ordinary, and blowing up the actions they ran in the lane.
The Spurs then came out of intermission with a 16-point lead, pushing the pace and invading the lane. Wembanyama was like a shark that sniffed blood, and went back at Duren, forcing him to sit, which compromised Detroit’s backline defense. Yet, they allowed the Pistons to maintain a pulse as they were close to flatlining when there was 22 points of separation. The lead was eventually cut to eight going into the fourth, and Detroit was able to take advantage when Wemby sat.
He was back for the start of the fourth and his two-way impact was the ingredient the team needed, as their mojo returned. Fox had a late burst, but they made the same mistakes as the last quarter, inviting the Pistons back into the game when lowering the RPMs. Cunningham even cut the lead to 10 points with fewer than three minutes left on a 3-pointer with contact, yet the Spurs prevailed thanks to late heroics from Stephon Castle and Julian Champagnie.