The San Antonio Spurs erased an 18-point third-quarter deficit and defeated the Denver Nuggets 139–136 on Friday night, securing a spot in the NBA Cup quarterfinals. Devin Vassell finished with a season-high 33 points and made 7 of 9 three-pointers, according to Fox San Antonio.
Not to be overlooked, Julian Champagnie pitched in with a season-best 25 points, helping the Spurs clap back and send the Nuggets to their third home loss in a row, despite Denver previously winning six straight on the road. The Spurs' accuracy from the free-throw line was nearly impeccable, making 30 of 32 attempts and capitalizing on Denver's turnovers to score 30 points, as per CBS Sports.
Jamal Murray scored 37 points for the Nuggets and reached 10,000 career points, becoming the fifth player in team history to do so. Cam Johnson added 28 points and Nikola Jokic had 21. Both teams were missing several players, including Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle for the Spurs and Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun for the Nuggets. Denver went on a 23–6 run to end the first half and started the third quarter strong, but the Spurs won the third quarter and cut the lead to one. Eight Spurs players made three-pointers. The Spurs play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night, and the Nuggets play the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.
