By RAUL DOMINGUEZ Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points, including the game-winning basket in heavy traffic in the final seconds, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Washington Wizards 124-122 on Saturday night.
Davis Bertans, traded from San Antonio to Washington in the offseason, made all five of his 3-point attempts and scored 23 points against his former team.
The Spurs recorded their 20th straight home victory over Washington with some late heroics.
Using a screen by LaMarcus Aldridge near midcourt, DeRozan drove to the basket and spun in a layup between Rui Hachiumra and Thomas Bryant, putting the Spurs up with 5.5 second remaining. Bradley Beal attempted to force overtime with a driving layup, but Derrick White blocked his shot and grabbed the ball as the buzzer sounded.
Aldridge led the Spurs with 27 points. Dejounte Murray had 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists and Bryn Forbes added 16 points.
Beal had 25 points and Hachimura added 16 points for the Wizards.
Hachimura was stripped of the ball on a drive to the basket and had it go out of bounds off his left knee with the Wizards up 112-109 with 5 minutes remaining. The Spurs then went on a 7-2 run before Bertans hit his fifth 3-pointer, tying the game at 118-all.
The biggest lead of the game was nine points, by DeRozan the Spurs in the second quarter.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Washington’s last victory in San Antonio was Dec. 11, 1999, when Mitch Richmond scored 31 points to beat Tim Duncan, who is now a Spurs assistant coach. … The Spurs played a tribute video for Bertans prior to player introductions. Bertans averaged 6.2 points in 220 games over three seasons with San Antonio. … Isaiah Thomas played in his first game since April 7, when he had 10 points and three assists in 24 minutes at Portland. Thomas was healthy, but did not appear in any postseason games for Denver last season. Thomas had 16 points and five assists against the Spurs.
Spurs: Aldridge was 2 for 3 on 3-pointers, making multiple 3s in a game for the first time since Dec. 23, 2017. Aldridge has made 124 3-pointers in his 14-year career. … Bryn Forbes played in his 200th career game, joining Avery Johnson, Bruce Bowen, Mark Olberding, Fabricio Oberto, Jaren Jackson and Gary Neal as the only undrafted players to reach that milestone with the Spurs. … Lonnie Walker IV drew loud cheers as he made his season debut two minutes into the fourth quarter. Walker made his first attempt, a right-handed runner in the lane, for his only points in five minutes. … The Spurs had just nine turnovers after committing 21 in their season opener.
UP NEXT
Wizards: Host Houston on Wednesday night.
Spurs: Host Portland on Monday night.