De’Aaron Fox scored 14 of his season-high 37 points in the fourth quarter and added eight assists, six rebounds and three steals to lead the visiting San Antonio Spurs to a 115-102 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in NBA Cup play on Friday night.
Devin Vassell scored a season-tying best 23 points and Harrison Barnes added 13 for the Spurs, who improved to 4-1 during the absence of star big man Victor Wembanyama (calf). Julian Champagnie had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Keldon Johnson added 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for San Antonio.
The Spurs are 2-1 in West Group C play and tied with the Denver Nuggets for the top spot. The two teams play each other Friday night in Denver with an automatic spot in the knockout round on the line.
The Trail Blazers (2-2) were eliminated from the NBA Cup on Wednesday.
Deni Avdija scored a season-high 37 points to go with eight assists and six rebounds for Portland, which lost for the eighth time in the past 11 games. Jerami Grant scored 13 points and Shaedon Sharpe scored 11 off the bench after missing four games with a calf injury.
San Antonio made 40.6% of its field-goal attempts, including 11 of 33 from 3-point range.
The Trail Blazers shot 42.5% from the field and were 9 of 36 from behind the arc.
Fox scored four points during an 8-0 spurt early in the fourth quarter to give San Antonio a 101-91 lead.
Baskets by Dylan Harper and Kelly Olynyk pushed the Spurs’ lead to 107-96 with 5:23 remaining.
A 3-pointer by Toumani Camara and an interior hoop by Donovan Clingan allowed Portland to creep within 107-101 with 3:59 left.
Fox made a short bank shot and added six free throws during a personal 8-0 run to give San Antonio a 14-point lead with 1:31 to go and the Spurs closed it out.
Fox connected on a 3-pointer to conclude a half-ending 11-2 run as San Antonio led 56-54 at the break. Fox had 14 points in the half for the Spurs while Avdija tallied 18 for the Trail Blazers.
In the third quarter, Fox scored five straight points to cap a 12-4 push as the Spurs took a 70-63 lead with 7:51 to play.
Portland later moved within two before Vassell drilled a trey with 1.6 seconds left and the Spurs led 91-86 entering the fourth quarter.
