Brooklyn Nets at San Antonio Spurs

Vassell's career-high 37 points lead Spurs past struggling Nets 127-113

Brooklyn (21-40) lost its fifth straight, dropping 2 1/2 games out of 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

Cam Thomas had 24 points to lead the Nets, and Cameron Johnson added 17.

Stephon Castle scored 17 points, and De'Aaron Fox and Keldon Johnson added 15 each for San Antonio. Bismack Biyombo, who signed a contract for the rest of the season hours earlier, had 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Vassell was 8 for 11 on 3-pointers and also had five assists.

San Antonio led by as many as 25 and cruised to its second victory in seven games.

With star center Victor Wembanyama watching from the sideline, the Spurs outscored the Nets 62-40 in the paint. Wembanyama is out for the season with a blood clot in his right shoulder.

Takeaways Nets: D'Angelo Russell had 12 points on 4-for-11 shooting. Russell also was limited to four assists.

Spurs: Chris Paul's 3-pointer in the second quarter was the 20,000th 3-pointer in franchise history. San Antonio finished 18 for 39 on 3s.

Key moment Vassell set his career high on a 3-pointer with 2:23 remaining off an assist from Biyombo. Vassell's previous career high was 33 points against Atlanta on Nov. 30, 2023.

Key stat San Antonio had 37 assists to become the first team in NBA history with 20-plus assists in 200 straight games. Indiana is second with 150 consecutive games.

Up next Nets: Host the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.

Spurs: Play at Sacramento on Friday in Fox's first game at the Golden 1 Center since the Kings traded him to the Spurs on Feb. 5.

Regular Season Series

SA wins series 2-0