SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs won at home versus the Denver Nuggets 121-120 thanks to a game-winning shot by Devonte' Graham.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 34 points and 12 rebounds. Zach Collins scored 15 points and six rebounds, and Julian Champagnie scored 14 in the win. Tre Jones contributed 14 points, Graham scored 11, Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 21, and Sidy Cissoko posted eight.
Due to injuries, San Antonio was without Jeremy Sochan, Cedi Osman, Keldon Johnson, Malaki Branham, and Devin Vassell.
The Spurs are 21-60 on the season and will next host the Detriot Pistons on Sunday afternoon for their regular-season finale.
Here's a sample of what the teams said after the game.
SPURS
Coach Gregg Popovich:
"I'm really proud of them and they played a great second half but they've done that all year. They don't give in. Obviously, with a lot of guys, not there and we had a lot of people pick it up. Devonte' was great. David Duke [Jr.] was great and Julian was great. A lot of people played well. Zach played well. Victor is Victor. He did a lot of good things, but it couldn't happen without everybody else doing what they did out there. Sandro was awesome. So you just go right down the line. Everybody contributed. They deserve it. They should all go get a beer or a Coke whatever they do."
Graham:
"I've been in a lot of games like this. I made some big buckets before but I think we got a shout-out guys. Mamu had an unbelievable game. Obviously, Vic [Wemabnyama] been doing this all year. But we were down 25 [points] and Zach came to the huddle and told us to pick up our energy up. I think that was our turning point and we went on that run from there."
Wembanyama:
"As a growing team, young team, it's [win] big for us. And yes, we're going to need these kind of wins in the future. We're going to any win but big-time wins against big teams, first seeds. We're going to need those in the future.”
Mamukelashvili:
“I was very happy for Devonte’. That’s my brother. He’s a pro. He stuck with it and never complained. He just came in and stayed ready for this moment. To be honest, I would be happy for everybody, but I’m very happy for Devonte’, because I feel like he deserves it, and he’s a great player.”
NUGGETS
Coach Mike Malone:
“We didn't defend at all. They shot 71% in the third quarter, 50% in that fourth quarter. The very few times it did miss in the fourth quarter, we gave up 8 offensive rebounds for 13 points. Give San Antonio a ton of credit. They stayed with it."
Peyton Watson:
"Those guys are young, they're hungry and they’re ready to come out; they want to win a game, especially to close out the year in front of their fans. So, we just got to take them more seriously."