Wizards down Spurs, finally win back-to-back games

Kyle Kuzma racked up 18 points and 11 rebounds and Daniel Gafford added 16 points and 13 boards as the visiting Washington Wizards rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 118-113 on Monday.

The Wizards tied the game at 107 on Jordan Poole's 3-pointer with 3:42 to play to cap a 9-0 run. Tyus Jones' jumper with 2:12 left gave Washington the lead for good, and Jones hit another jumper with 1:20 remaining to push the margin to 116-113.

Gafford's putback dunk with 5.7 seconds left did all but clinch the victory for the Wizards, who won consecutive games for the first time this season and earned a split of the season series with San Antonio.

Marvin Bagley III and Jones scored 15 points apiece for Washington, with Poole adding 13.

Devin Vassell led San Antonio with 24 points. Victor Wembanyama added 22 points and 11 rebounds, Cedi Osman hit for a season-high 20 points off the bench, Keldon Johnson had 14 points and Tre Jones scored 11 in the loss.

The Spurs rang up a 21-6 run capped by Johnson's driving layup to take a 35-22 advantage with 20.5 seconds to play in the first quarter. A late three-point play by Deni Avdija allowed Washington to cut that deficit to 10 points after 12 minutes of play.

Tyus Jones' jumper from beyond the arc tied the game at 52 with 1:46 left before halftime, but the Spurs answered, getting back-to-back 3-pointers from Vassell and Osman. Kuzma's jumper at the buzzer culled San Antonio's lead to 58-54 at the break.

Osman led all scorers with 13 points in the first half, while Wembanyama had 12 and Vassell hit for 11 the Spurs. Tyus Jones paced Washington with nine points over the first two quarters.

San Antonio pushed its advantage to 10 points on four different occasions in the third quarter, the last after a dunk by Vassell with 2:39 to go in the period. The Wizards clawed back to trail by just four before two free throws by Blake Wesley granted the Spurs a 93-87 edge heading into the final quarter.