San Antonio vs. Toronto, Final Score: Spurs dominate Raptors in 123-89 end-to-end blowout

03/23/2025 08:25 PM

San Antonio leaves no doubt in securing its third straight victory behind Devin Vassell's most complete game

San Antonio blitzed Toronto with a 30-9 first quarter close - keyed by eight forced steals (15 overall) and an elevated offensive attack - to secure a 20 point lead that it would continually build upon to get its third straight triumph. The Spurs were paced by the finest of Devin Vassell's March outings (25 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals). Rookie of the Year favorite Stephon Castle (15 points and 5 rebounds) had another solid start, while Julian Champagnie (20 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals) deflated the Raptors with a great shooting effort. Blake Wesley (8 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals) optimized his minutes. San Antonio's excellent ball movement might have been outdone by a steller defensive performance.

Second-round pick Jamal Shead (17 points and 6 assists) led the way early on for Toronto. Outside of their veterans - former Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes (22 points and 6 rebounds) and RJ Barrett (18 points and 7 rebounds), the rest of the rotation resembled video game NPC players in San Antonio's onslaught and wilted (20 turnovers) from their stifling defense.

An energized Spurs squad harrassed the Toronto starters into countless turnovers in a runaway first quarter that saw Vassell and Castle provide the shooting and leadership as the rotation players around him changed. After the duo spearheaded a San Antonio surge into the lead, Jeremy Sochan, Champagnie, and Blake Wesley came in and wreaked havoc on both ends. Wesley had two highlight steal and finish sequences, and Sochan made life miserable on the Toronto interior. Wesley, in particular, keyed a push near the end of the period to put the Raptors down 20.

Toronto found an improved offense in the second quarter, but continued to waste possessions on steals and unfored turnovers. Champagnie got into double digits to keep any Raptors gains minimal. Threes from Harrison Barnes and Vassell halted Toronto's earlier progress. San Antonio, with a 17-9 burst, tried to match its first quarter run to bring the half to a satisfying 62-40 end.

The Spurs were able to avoid the complacency of Friday's third quarter - mainly due to Vassell's ability to knock down difficult shots at will. Scottie Barnes was able to connect on some shots to dent the Raptors' scorebook, but San Antonio persistent pressure enabled it to push their advantage back out to the high-20s. While Vassell made the quarter his own personal H-O-R-S-E game, all Spurs that played made noticeablly positive contributions to help push the lead to 34.

Observations

• The Sling preview of today's game: "A weakened Spurs team heads north of the border to open up their season series with the Raptors." Take that Sling.
• Players I liked watching from the Duke / Baylor game: Kon Kneuppel (shooting), Sion James(could you imagine he and Castle roaming the perimeter?), Tyrese Proctor (replacement for Paul), and that Flagg fella.
• Former Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland sat courtside and was introduced between quarters. My favorite of the 'children.' Modern Queen of Soul Mary J. Blige also got recognized in the third quarter.
• It was fun to see the 22-year old dimunitive Shead chase the 39-year old dimunitive Paul around.
• Devin's Deeds: In a highlight-filled third period, Vassell stole a Toronto pass (a common occurrence this evening) and flew in for a soaring slam to make it 82-54.
• Bo Knows: I used to somewhat wince during the wind-up on his shots, but now feel pretty good at the chances of his little hooks and floaters. He had a nice swish at the start of the second half. After a tip-in over two Raptors, Jacob Tobey exclaimed "Per usual!"
• Shades of Ginobili: After a Raptor threw a pass off of Vassell's face, Sochan found a streaking Wesley, who passed it to Vassell and he delivered a feather to Keldon Johnson for a lob lay-up. Wesley's behind-the-back delivery probably reminded me of the ones Ginobili used to feed DeJuan Blair.
• Castle Hills: His first basket came off a handoff and was well beyond the arc. Good stuff.
• Sequence of the Game #1: Halfway through the opening stanza, Harrison Barnes swiped a steal, fed Castle, and he and Vassell had a nice give-and-go for a Castle slam.
• Sequence of the Game #2: Wesley stole a telegraphed pass and threw down a jam at the other end - then immediately drew an offensive foul on the veteran Scottie Barnes at the end of a really encouraging first quarter.
• Sequence of the Game #3: After a Toronto timeout in the third quarter, Vassell stole another Raptors pass, found Keldon Johnson, who lofted a lob to an expectant Sochan.

Game Rundown

The teams had trouble finding the bottom of the net in the first handful of minutes. Vassell had a couple of misses on open looks before knocking down two smooth ones. Castle had four early points, while netting two consecutive steals. Shead, panned in college for not shooting well, had five early points, but Toronto started 4-for-17 and put up a handful of misses on one possession alone. Wesley, Champagnie, and Harrison Barnes pestered the Raptor guards and forced a shot-clock violation. A Vassell lay-up paired with a Sochan corner three and lay-up extended the lead toi 13. Wesley was instrumental in turning the impressive 25-12 start into a 36-16 romp after one.

Shead helped the Raptors cut into the lead with a 9-3 run over the first three minutes of the second period. Champagnie was the beneficiary of two nice feeds from Wesley and Castle to knock down threes. Sandro Mamukelashvili extended several San Antonio possessions and fluidly found teammates, including Champagnie for his third triple. A pair of threes from Harrison Barnes sandwiched around a Vassell three increased the Spurs' advantage to 25. The Spurs went to the half up 22.

Scottie Barnes, who probably got the message at the break to assert himself more, knocked down two threes to start the third. Barrett also sought out his own offense to mixed results. Vassell, confidently in his bag, hit threefour five of the tougher jumpers I've seen him make. Castle had a lower body scare on a possession but returned to action and converted a transition layup and forced yet another Toronto turnover. Jamison Battle was whistled for the Zaza (you stink Pachulia) closeout foul on Champagnie and assigned a Flagrant-1. Champagnie ended the stanza with a skywalking tip dunk to make it 97-63. The large lead allowed Malaki Branham and Jordan McLaughlin to get significant playing time.

For the Raptors fan's perspective, please visit Raptors HQ.

San Antonio takes on Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons Tuesday at 6:00 PM CDT.