Keldon Johnson stole the ball from Kevin Durant and scored on a breakaway dunk with 1.2 seconds to play as the visiting San Antonio Spurs scored the final six points of the game to beat the Phoenix Suns 115-114 on Tuesday in the first of a two-game set between the teams over a three-day period.
The teams will also play on Thursday in Phoenix.
The Suns led by 18 points at halftime and by 13 heading into the fourth quarter. San Antonio did not relent, with a jumper by rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama cutting its deficit to 114-111 with 49 seconds left.
Wembanyama then crashed the boards for an offensive rebound and a putback dunk with 6.1 seconds remaining. The Suns inbounded the ball in the corner to Durant, who was double-teamed before Johnson stole the ball and drove to the rim for the deciding dunk.
Durant then missed a 10-foot fadeaway jumper at the buzzer that would have won the game for the Suns.
Johnson led the Spurs with 27 points while Wembanyama and Devin Vassell added 18 each. Zach Collins scored 14 points and Tre Jones had 10 as San Antonio won for the first time on the road.
Durant’s 26 points paced the Suns. Eric Gordon scored 20, and Grayson Allen added 19. Jusuf Nurkic finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Josh Okogie and Yuta Watanabe scored 11 points each.
Durant’s late dunk pushed him over the 27,000-point mark for his career.
The Suns played without star guard Devin Booker (ankle) for the third straight game and newly acquired forward Bradley Beal, who has been dealing with lower back pain and has not played this season.
Phoenix forged a 22-12 lead at the 3:16 mark of the first quarter after a putback layup by Watanabe and enjoyed a 27-18 advantage at the end of the period. The Suns expanded their lead to 19 points in the second quarter when Gordon hit a floater with 7:10 to play before halftime; they carried a 63-45 edge into the break.
Allen led all scorers with 16 points before halftime while Durant and Gordon added 14 each. Johnson’s nine points led the Spurs’ output in the first half.
–Field Level Media
