San Antonio Spurs Show Early Dominance, Choke Lead to Toronto Raptors in Overtime

San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama had himself a block party Sunday afternoon, but Toronto Raptors duo Scottie Barnes and O.G. Anunoby had a 3-point party — and it was the latter that proved to be more impactful.

After spending three straight games on the road, the San Antonio Spurs couldn't have been happier to back home. 

As it has all season, Frost Bank Center filled out nicely to watch Victor Wembanyama — fresh off of a 38-point performance — wreak havoc on the visiting Toronto Raptors, and safe to say, no fans in attendance left disappointed. About the rookie, at least. 

Wembanyama finished his sixth career NBA game with 20 points, nine rebounds and five blocks on 7-16 shooting, but despite his stellar play, the Spurs choked a 27-point lead to fall 123-116 Sunday afternoon. 

It wasn't just Wembanyama who showed out, however, two of the most important performances were both from the Raptors. Both O.G. Anunoby and Scottie Barnes combined for 54 points and 12-23 shooting from deep, which was the reason for their team's comeback and ultimately their win.

Five players finished with double figures for San Antonio, including Wembanyama, Keldon Johnson, Malaki Branham, Zach Collins and Doug McDermott, and as a whole, the Spurs shot just under 50 percent from the floor without Devin Vassell.

The dominance that the Spurs displayed was evident right away, it just didn't hold. 

Nov 5, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) blocks the shot by Toronto Raptors forward Jalen McDaniels (2) in the first half at the Frost Bank Center / © Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Johnson scored a pair of early buckets to notch a quick four points, but it wasn't any one player who made the difference for San Antonio in the first quarter. The Spurs escaped the first 12 minutes with a four-point lead, but that was the closest margin until five minutes remaining in the game.

Right away in the second quarter, Johnson added another pair of buckets to give the Spurs an eight-point lead, and from there, McDermott got active alongside Collins and Branham.

McDermott hit two of his four 3-pointers in the second quarter, while Branham showcased his smooth mid-range pull up jumpshot as the Spurs pulled out to a double-digit lead. Before the end of the half, that lead hit a head as Johnson dunked the ball to put San Antonio up by 22. 

In the third quarter, Collins and Wembanyama kept things going. San Antonio maintained a healthy all the way through, and it held steady at 15 points headed to the final period of play. 

Then, things got interesting. 

The fourth quarter started out strong for the Silver & Black, as Wembanyama gave Charles Bassey an alley-oop to get the arena back on its feet. But that 17-point lead didn't end up holding for long, as a barrage of 3s from O.G. Anunoby and Scottie Barnes brought the Raptors back into it slowly, but steadily. 

Together, the pair brought the Raptors back within two points at their best. Wembanyama headed to the bench with about four-and-a-half minutes to play in the game, and remained there until around three minutes. At that point, the Spurs had a five-point lead. 

After Tre Jones won his second jump ball of the quarter, Keldon Johnson came up with it and had to chuck up a one-handed floater as the shot clock expired. But it hit. 

The Spurs went up by seven and rode that light lead all the way to the end as Toronto attempted to whittle it away. Johnson at the forefront of the scoring, and with just 14.5 seconds remaining and the game tied, he knocked in two late free throws to give San Antonio an edge before Anunoby responded with a putback to tie the game again.

Suddenly, there was 1.2 seconds to play and the Spurs had the ball at half court, but Barnes intercepted the inbound the send the game to overtime. 

To start the extra period, Pascal Siakam joined the Raptors' 3-point barrage, knocking in one himself to give the Raptors an early lead. Wembanyama responded with a fadeaway jumper, but the Raptors' offensive onslaught proved to be too much for San Antonio to close out overtime.

Wembanyama did his thing, as did Johnson, but Toronto mounted a successful comeback to take a rallying 123-116 victory back up North with them.

With the loss, San Antonio falls to 3-3 on the season — right at .500. The Spurs' early dominance was on full display, but their ability to close was not. 

Next up for San Antonio is another road test, this time against the Indiana Pacers in its first back-to-back of the year. 

Tipoff from Gainbridge Fieldhouse is set for 6 p.m. CST.