Harrison Barnes erupted for a season-high, fueling the Spurs' home win. De'Aaron Fox sealed the victory as the Grizzlies couldn't contain their scoring surge.
The San Antonio Spurs surged late to outlast the Memphis Grizzlies 126-119 on Tuesday night, leaning on Harrison Barnes’ hot shooting and De’Aaron Fox’s fourth-quarter takeover to protect one of the NBA’s best home records.
San Antonio improved to 9-2 at Frost Bank Center and continued its surprising push without Victor Wembanyama, who missed his eighth straight game with a strained left calf.
Barnes set the tone by drilling his first three attempts from deep and never cooling off. The veteran finished with a season-high 31 points, hitting 7 of 12 from beyond the arc and 10 of 20 overall. Fox added 29 points, 11 of them in the fourth quarter as the Spurs erased a seven-point deficit.
Memphis dominated the interior in Wembanyama’s absence, outscoring San Antonio 58-42 in the paint. Rookie center Zach Edey powered that effort, posting 19 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 8 of 12. The 7-foot-3 center controlled the defensive glass and battled through several physical collisions, including a loose-ball foul when he got tangled with Jeremy Sochan and a reviewed elbow to Luke Kornet in the fourth.
Cam Spencer added a season-high 21 points for the Grizzlies, and Jaylen Wells scored 20. Jaren Jackson Jr. was held to seven points and six rebounds in 29 minutes.
Memphis had entered the night with three straight wins and victories in five of six without Ja Morant, but the offense sputtered late after hanging 39 points in the third quarter.
As the Grizzlies tried to explain what slipped away, head coach Tuomas Iisalo pointed to the shift in pace and physicality in the closing minutes.
He began by describing the contrast between the explosive third quarter and the stalled fourth.
“I thought we got some good looks also in the fourth quarter,” Iisalo said. “Third quarter we made a great run. Loved how our second unit got humming there against their switches and found a lot of easy buckets underneath and open shots on the outside and unfortunately we… we couldn't get the same amount of stops in the fourth quarter that we have been getting in the previous games. That slowed the game down to a half-court game and gotta give credit to them. Very physical team and very tough to beat.”
He was later asked about San Antonio hitting 18 threes and how many of those Memphis could live with defensively.
“There were some of those also,” Iisalo said. “I couldn't give you a number right now or ratio, but yeah, I didn't think we started the game very well in that respect. I think first five threes that they had were all of their shooters and, let's call them drivers, got to the rim. So they got to play with their strengths and little by little we got better into the game. And after that I thought it was a very hard-fought game between two teams that really, really wanted to win.”
With the road trip closing at 3-1 and a slate of home games ahead, Iisalo was asked how Memphis takes the next step.
“Video will tell the answers, but keep doing the daily work and keep chipping away little by little,” he said. “Stay together — all the things that winning teams do.”
The Grizzlies return home Friday to host the Los Angeles Clippers.