The New Orleans Pelicans are clinging to the last play-in position in the NBA’s Western Conference.
The San Antonio Spurs played Friday night like a team ready to make a strong push for that spot.
The Spurs, who routed the Hawks 136-121 on Friday night in Atlanta, will visit the Pelicans on Saturday night. San Antonio, which had lost four of five before Friday, pulled within a game of 11th-place Portland and 1½ games of New Orleans with the win.
Dejounte Murray led the way with his 11th triple-double of the season and set a franchise record with his 15th career triple-double, breaking a tie with David Robinson. He tied career-highs of 32 points and 15 assists while grabbing 10 rebounds. He made 11 of 18 shots from the floor, including 2 of 5 3-pointers.
“That’s who I look up to,” Devin Vassell, who scored 20 points for the Spurs, said of Murray. “That’s my guy. That’s my dog for life. He helps all of us go. So when we see him getting out and just being Dejounte, it fires all of us up….