Devin Vassell scored 23 points (12 on 4 3-pointers), and the San Antonio Spurs rallied from 16 points down in the second quarter to beat the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder 111-109 in Las Vegas.
The Spurs trailed 47-31 with 3:53 left in the second quarter. They were still down 49-33 with 2:55 left in the second quarter, with a 3.4% chance to win, and outscored the Thunder 78-60 the rest of the way.
Jalen Williams went 1 for 2 at the line to make it 111-109 with 1.5 seconds left. The Thunder had the ball down 2, but Alex Caruso missed a tip attempt at the buzzer that would have tied it.
During clutch time, the Spurs outscored the Thunder 17-14. Victor Wembanyama scored 9 of the Spurs’ 17 on 2 for 5 shooting and 5 for 8 at the line. In the fourth quarter, Caruso had 2 of his 3 steals, both with the game within five points, and the Thunder scored 3 points off them.
Wembanyama had 22 points and 9 rebounds off the bench. De'Aaron Fox added 22 points (11 in the third quarter), and Stephon Castle scored 22 points. Wembanyama scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter. The Spurs had 4 20-point scorers.
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points but went 1 for 7 from 3.