The San Antonio Spurs have reeled off 12 wins in the past 13 contests despite playing just five of those games at home since Feb. 1.
That means they will be carrying plenty of momentum when they host the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons on Thursday in the opener of a six-game homestand.
The teams played on Feb. 23 in Detroit, with the Spurs producing a 114-103 win.
The Spurs head home after a 131-91 thrashing of the 76ers in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper each scored 22 points to lead San Antonio in the victory, which allowed the Spurs to get back on track after a 25-point road loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday.
“The energy we had, we didn’t come out just walking around; we kind of had that energy,” Harper said. “After what happened in New York, I think we just wanted to prove to us and to everyone that we’re still here.
“I think confidence is through the roof. Everyone is finding their stride at the right time. There are still a lot of things we need to work on, but I think what we got from this trip and what we showed ourselves we’re capable of, we’re very excited going into March and April.”
San Antonio shot 55.1% from the floor against the 76ers as eight Spurs scored in double figures, including Stephon Castle (15 points, 10 assists) and Victor Wembanyama (10 points, eight rebounds, six blocks, three steals).
Twenty-four points of the Spurs’ victory margin was produced in the third quarter when they held the 76ers to 11 points and just 4-of-22 shooting.
“When we’ve committed to just not getting bored with our success at times and staying with what’s working, we’ve had some really good stretches,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said after Tuesday’s win.
The Pistons travel to the Alamo City after a 113-109 loss at Cleveland on Tuesday that snapped a three-game winning streak dating back to the loss to the Spurs.
Jalen Duren collected game highs of 24 points and 14 rebounds, while Cade Cunningham posted 10 points and 14 assists and Tobias Harris scored all 19 of his points in the second half (17 of them in the third quarter). Detroit had its six-game road winning streak snapped.
“We just have to be better,” Cunningham said. “We have to start better on the defensive end, which sets the tone for the group.”
Ausar Thompson added 16 points and Javonte Green had 13 for the Pistons, who cut an 11-point deficit to a point with 2:56 to play in the fourth but could not get over the hump.
“I’m frustrated with the effort level and attention to detail that we played at on (the defensive end),” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the loss. “The time that we did do the right thing and create stops, we let people outwork us to come up with the offensive rebounds. We cannot afford not to play at maximum effort.”
The Spurs are in second place in the West, two games behind Oklahoma City in the loss column with 21 games to play. Detroit has been the East’s best team all season and owns a 4 1/2-game lead on Boston in the conference standings entering Wednesday’s action with 22 contests left in its regular-season campaign.
