The San Antonio Spurs got into their hotel in Orlando at 4 a.m. on Wednesday. Just 14 hours later, the Spurs had to fight for 48 minutes to pull out a victory in the second game of a back-to-back. De’Aaron Fox made clutch plays on the offensive end, and Luke Kornet had one of the best defensive plays of the season as time expired to seal a 114-112 win for San Antonio.
In a tie game, with about 6 seconds left on the clock in the fourth, Fox went 1-on-1 with Franz Wagner, getting by the Magic wing only to be met by stout defender Jonathan Isaac. Fox had to put up a shot with time expiring. Isaac got his hand caught in the cookie jar and was called for a reach-in foul while Fox was shooting. After nailing both free throws, the Magic had the ball sideline out of bounds with 1.4 seconds left, just enough time for a clean look. Wagner caught the ball over Julian Champagnie on the block, pump faked, and went up for the layup. Seemingly out of nowhere, Kornet came flying in to erase the shot and secure the victory for San Antonio.
Fox led all scorers with 31 points and added 5 assists in the victory. Dylan Harper chipped in with 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists off the bench, including some clutch buckets in the fourth quarter. Wagner and Jalen Suggs led the way for the Magic. Suggs had 24 points and 3 steals, but fouled out with 25.6 seconds left in the game. Wagner had 25 points and 6 assists.
The Spurs will travel north for a matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, where they’ll look to extend their winning streak to three games.