New Orleans Pelicans @ San Antonio Spurs
Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 8:30 PM ET
Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, TX | Game ID: 22400973
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
SAS 22 36 34 27 119NOP 23 35 25 32 115
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Vassell scores 22 points and Spurs hold off Pelicans, who were without Williamson
SAN ANTONIO -- — Devin Vassell scored 22 points and the San Antonio Spurs held on to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 119-115 on Saturday night.
Keldon Johnson and Harrison Barnes each had 19 points for San Antonio and Stephon Castle added 17.
C.J. McCollum had 26 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Pelicans, who were without Zion Williamson . The team said the star power forward sat out because of personal reasons.
McCollum shot 5 for 12 on 3-pointers, including 4 for 5 while scoring 14 points in the second quarter. Trey Murphy III scored 20 points.
The Spurs were without Victor Wembanyama (blood clot in right shoulder) and De'Aaron Fox (left pinkie tendon damage).
New Orleans opened the second half on a 15-7 run to take their largest lead at 73-65. San Antonio responded by closing the third quarter on a 25-8 run.
Jeremy Sochan banked in a 3-pointer from halfcourt to give the Spurs a 92-83 lead entering the fourth.
Takeaways Pelicans: Kelly Olynyk shot 7 for 12 from the field, including a scoop shot he tossed in over his head while avoiding a defender's reach. He finished with 14 points, seven assists and six rebounds in 31 minutes.
Spurs: Veteran center Bismack Biyombo had two points and two rebounds in his 13th start in place of Wembanyama. Biyombo is averaging 5.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in March.
Key moment With the Spurs clinging to a 113-111 lead with 1:30 remaining, Johnson won a battle for the rebound of Castle's missed 3-pointer. Johnson passed it to Vassell, who drained a 3 from 26 feet to extend San Antonio's lead to 116-111 with 1:03 remaining.
Key stat San Antonio has 142 3-pointers in March, the most of any team. Boston is second with 139. The Celtics are 7-1 in March while the Spurs are 4-5.
Up next The Pelicans host Detroit on Monday, while the Spurs are at the Los Angeles Lakers that night.
SAS KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
SASBB B. Biyombo
BW B. Wesley
CP C. Paul
DV D. Vassell
HB H. Barnes
JC J. Champagnie
JS J. Sochan
KJ K. Johnson
SC S. Castle
SM S. Mamukelashvili
NOPAR A. Reeves
BB B. Brown
CM C. McCollum
JA J. Alvarado
JH J. Hawkins
JR J. Robinson-Earl
KM K. Matković
KO K. Olynyk
MB M. Bamba
TM T. Murphy III
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