NBA 2023-24: Keldon Johnson’s late basket gives Spurs 115-114 win over Suns

Playing in his fourth NBA game, top draft pick Victor Wembanyama missed his first five shots before throwing down a sensational dunk in the final seconds of the first half.

Johnson had 27 points to lead San Antonio. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Keldon Johnson stripped Kevin Durant and made a contested layup with 1.2 seconds left to give the Spurs their only lead of the game and a 115-114 victory over the stunned Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.

The Spurs, who trailed by as many as 20 points, broke a nine-game losing streak against Phoenix.

Johnson had 27 points to lead San Antonio.

Playing in his fourth NBA game, top draft pick Victor Wembanyama missed his first five shots before throwing down a sensational dunk in the final seconds of the first half. He scored 18 points and had eight rebounds in 28 minutes. Devin Vassell also had 18 for the Spurs.

Durant led Phoenix with 26 points. Eric Gordon scored 20, Grayson Allen had 19 on 5 of 7 shooting from 3-point range for the Suns, who played without injured starting guards Bradley Beal and Devin Booker.

Jusuf Nurkic had a game-high 12 rebounds for Phoenix, which scored the game’s first eight points.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called a timeout 53 seconds into the game after Durant’s fastbreak dunk made it 4-0. It didn’t help much as Phoenix went on to lead 27-18 at the end of the quarter. Durant had a game-high 10 points in the period, finishing with a step-back jumper as time was running out. The Spurs shot 29 per cent from the field in the quarter and made just 1 of 11 from 3-point range.

Phoenix led 63-45 at halftime.

Before the game, Suns coach Frank Vogel said “there’s no timetable” for the return of Booker (left ankle sprain) and Bradley Beal (low back spasms). “They’re working very hard to get back as soon as possible,” Vogel said, noting that they have resumed some on-court activities in practice.