MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) 鈥� Victor Wembanyama had 18 points, seven blocks, seven rebounds and six assists, Julian Champagnie added 17 points, and the San Antonio Spurs rode a third-quarter outburst to a 102-87 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.
Sandro Mamukelashvili added a career-best 16 rebounds along with 11 points as the Spurs snapped a 13-game losing streak to the Grizzlies. San Antonio had not beaten Memphis since Dec. 23, 2020. Blake Wesley scored 13 points.
Jordan Goodwin had a career-best 19 rebounds while scoring 10 points for the Grizzlies. Brandon Clarke, Scotty Pippen Jr. and Trey Jemison each had 14 points for Memphis.
The Spurs led 49-48 at halftime, then blew the game open in the third quarter. San Antonio began the period with a 25-9 run and led 77-61 heading into the fourth.
鈥淲e all wanted to win this game,鈥� Mamukelashvili said, also mentioning the Spurs tough loss to Philadelphia on Sunday. 鈥淲e came out (after halftime) and picked up our defense.鈥�
Whether it was the Spurs' defense or poor shooting, Memphis made only four shots in the third, missing seven of eight 3-point attempts.
鈥淲e were just kind of out of sorts throughout the game,鈥� Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said, adding that his team had little response to the Spurs third-quarter play.
鈥淥ur offense just got slow,鈥� Jemison said of the third-quarter difference, adding: 鈥淭ransition killed us. They were getting dunk after dunk after dunk. That's a momentum killer.鈥�
San Antonio stretched its lead to 20 points in the fourth.
Both teams lost all hope of making the postseason some time ago. Memphis is 13th in the Western Conference; San Antonio sits at the bottom in 15th.
The teams are instead looking toward the draft lottery with optimism for next season. Wembanyama and his teammates will have a year's experience and growth. Memphis is hoping to avoid the injuries that have plagued its stars and key reserves most of this season.
That trend continued Tuesday night with 13 Memphis players not dressing, leading to the Grizzlies using their 50th starting lineup this season.
As has been the case most of the season, Memphis was without star players like Ja Morant, Demond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. Marcus Smart remained out, as did Derrick Rose.
The Spurs had a half dozen players out with various ailments, including three of their top four scorers 鈥� Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan.
But they had Wembanyama guarding the middle making Memphis leery of going to the rim. That hurdle and the resulting outside shots contributed to a 35% shooting night for the Grizzlies. After a season of Wembanyama's performance, Jenkins says talk of his potential is almost passe.
鈥淭he hype label has got to go because he鈥檚 proven it already in his rookie campaign,鈥� Jenkins said of Wembanyama before the game. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unbelievable to even talk about what his potential is and what he鈥檚 going to be like next year. What he鈥檚 already accomplished in his rookie season. There鈥檚 definitely the awe."
For the Spurs, reaching their 20th win wasn't necessarily a goal. After the All-Star break, improvement the rest of the season was the focus. Champagnie said San Antonio is making strides to reach that point.
鈥淎fter All-Star, our goal wasn't wins. It wasn't getting as many wins as we could to make it look good because 20-59 does not look good,鈥� Champagnie said. 鈥淏ut our goal was to become better as a unit.鈥�
UP NEXT
Spurs: At Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
Grizzlies: At Cleveland on Wednesday.
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AP NBA:
Clay Bailey, The Associated Press
