Field Level Media
Oct 26, 2019
DeMar DeRozan connected from short range with 5.5 seconds remaining to break the 10th tie of the fourth quarter Saturday night, giving the host San Antonio Spurs a 124-122 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Derrick White blocked Bradley Beal's buzzer-beating runner in the lane, preserving the Spurs' second straight win to open the season.
The loss capped a 1-2 season-opening trip for the Wizards, who were playing the second night of a back-to-back after winning at Oklahoma City on Friday.
In a fourth quarter that featured six lead changes as well as the 10 ties, LaMarcus Aldridge tipped in his own miss to draw San Antonio even at 120-all with 2:08 to play in the tightly contested affair.
After Beal missed a layup, DeRozan put the Spurs in front with a 15-footer with 1:26 to go.
But after missing a 3-pointer that could have given the Wizards the lead, Beal drew a foul from White and made two free throws with 26.5 seconds remaining to create one final tie at 122-all.
DeRozan and White then combined for their heroics at both ends of the court to give San Antonio the win.
Aldridge finished with a game-high 27 points and DeRozan 26 for the Spurs, who built the game's largest lead, 50-40, midway through the second quarter.
Dejounte Murray chipped in with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double for San Antonio, while Bryn Forbes (16 points) and White (10) also scored in double figures.
Beal had 25 points and former Spur Davis Bertans attacked his old teammates with 5-for-5 accuracy on 3-pointers and 23 points off the bench for the Wizards, who used a 20-10 burst to close the first half and draw even at 60-all at halftime.
Beal also found time for a game-high 11 assists.
Ish Smith went for 19 points, Rui Hachimura and Isaiah Thomas 16 apiece and Thomas Bryant 10 for Washington, which lost its 20th straight at San Antonio dating back to December 1999.
Thomas, who was making his Wizards debut, buried four 3-pointers, as Washington stayed in the game by going 16-for-34 (47.1 percent) from long range.
--Field Level Media