New Orleans Pelicans @ San Antonio Spurs
Sunday, December 8, 2024 at 7:00 PM ET
Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, TX | Game ID: 22400354
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
SAS 28 43 21 29 121NOP 34 28 25 29 116
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Wembanyama helps Spurs beat Pelicans, 121-116, as Paul moves into second in career assists
SAN ANTONIO -- — Chris Paul moved into second place on the NBA's career assists list, Victor Wembanyama came back from an injury scare to score 25 points and the San Antonio Spurs held on to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 121-116 on Sunday night.
Paul had 10 assists, giving him 12,099 for his career and moving him past former Phoenix and Dallas star Jason Kidd (12,091).
Stephon Castle added 22 points for San Antonio, which snapped a three-game skid.
Wembanyama left the game with 8:59 remaining in the first quarter when he clutched his lower back. He had missed the previous two games with lower back soreness. But he returned to Sunday's game with 9:34 remaining in the second quarter.
Trey Murphy III scored 25 points and C.J. McCollum had 19 for the Pelicans. Dejounte Murray added 18 points and 11 assists and Yves Missi had 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Takeaways Pelicans: New Orleans' starting five scored 92 points.
Spurs: San Antonio lost Zach Collins and Keldon Johnson to injuries in the first half. Collins exited midway through the first quarter with a lower back injury when he landed on his right hip after fouling and tumbling over Murray on an attempted rebound. Johnson suffered a left calf injury with 7:11 remaining in the half.
Key moment Paul assisted on Wembanyama’s 3-pointer with 37 seconds remaining to snap a five-minute scoring drought and put the Spurs up 117-116. Prior to Wembanyama’s 3, the Pelicans had a 13-0 run to take a 116-114 lead with a minute remaining in the game.
Key stat The 39-year-old Paul moved into second place when the 20-year-old Wembanyama made a 25-foot 3-pointer with 7:06 remaining in the first half against New Orleans, the franchise where his 20-year career began.
Up next Pelicans: Host Sacramento on Thursday night.
SAS KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
SASCB C. Bassey
CP C. Paul
DV D. Vassell
HB H. Barnes
JC J. Champagnie
JS J. Sochan
KJ K. Johnson
SC S. Castle
VW V. Wembanyama
ZC Z. Collins
NOPAR A. Reeves
BB B. Boston
CM C. McCollum
DM D. Murray
HJ H. Jones
JC J. Cain
JR J. Robinson-Earl
TJ T. Jemison III
TM T. Murphy III
YM Y. Missi
SAS/NOP the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur