San Antonio Spurs Vs New Orleans Pelicans Match Player Stats: Thrilling Comeback Falls Short in a 104-95 Classic

Few basketball games in the 2025-26 NBA regular season have delivered the kind of emotional whiplash that this one served up. The San Antonio Spurs Vs New Orleans Pelicans Match Player Stats from January 25, 2026, tell a story that goes well beyond the final scoreline of 104-95. The Pelicans, playing away at Frost Bank Center, built a commanding 20-point advantage midway through the third quarter, looked entirely in control, and then watched in disbelief as San Antonio stripped every inch of that lead away in a scorched-earth comeback.

What makes these San Antonio Spurs Vs New Orleans Pelicans Match Player Stats particularly compelling is how the individual narratives inside this game intersected. Devin Vassell, back after missing 13 consecutive games with a strained left adductor, provided a jolt off the bench. Wembanyama was a physical force on both ends. But the Spurs could not convert when the pressure peaked, going 19-of-32 at the free-throw line and missing the final four chances with New Orleans up 98-93. The Pelicans’ clutch execution down the stretch, anchored by Murphy’s three-pointer with 2:54 remaining, is what separated the two sides on a night the stat sheet says could have gone either way.

Last Updated: June 17, 2026

Teams, Lineups, and Game Details

Game Details

This NBA regular season contest was played at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, before a crowd of 18,363 fans. The game carried meaningful stakes for the Pelicans, who came in knowing a loss would hand San Antonio a season sweep. For the Spurs, the return of Devin Vassell gave them their first fully healthy rotation since December 29.

New Orleans Pelicans Starting Lineup

Inactive (NOP): Trey Alexander, Hunter Dickinson, Bryce McGowens, Dejounte Murray

San Antonio Spurs Starting Lineup

Key Reserve: Devin Vassell (returning from injury), Keldon Johnson, Chris Paul Inactive (SAS): Harrison Ingram, David Jones Garcia, Stanley Umude

Quarter-by-Quarter Scoring Breakdown

Score by Quarter

The quarter-by-quarter breakdown reveals two completely different games sewn into one. San Antonio opened strongly in the first quarter, holding a 28-25 edge largely on the back of Vassell’s free throw in the final second. The second quarter belonged entirely to the Pelicans, who outscored the Spurs by 12 points on a 19-8 closing run to take a 56-47 halftime lead. The third quarter was dominated by New Orleans building their advantage to 19 before San Antonio’s bench mob started firing. The fourth quarter reads 30-22 in favor of the Spurs, but it is misleading because San Antonio’s frantic 24-5 start to that period was ultimately wiped out by New Orleans’ 17-3 closing burst.

Quarter-by-Quarter Key Moments

Quarter-by-Quarter Breakdown

Quarter 1: Spurs Take an Early Edge

San Antonio came out with visible energy, feeding Wembanyama early and getting Vassell involved despite his long absence. The Spurs outscored New Orleans 28-25, with Vassell converting a free throw with one second remaining to give San Antonio a three-point cushion at the end of the opening quarter. For New Orleans, Bey was already hitting his spots early, and Williamson found the paint at will. The margin was tight, but Spurs fans could sense their team had a physical edge early.

Quarter 2: Pelicans Shift the Game’s Weight

Everything changed in the second quarter. The Pelicans stormed back to tie the game, then took the lead for good. Jose Alvarado’s three-pointer with 8:38 remaining moved New Orleans ahead 35-30, and from there the Pelicans kept building. A clinical 19-8 closing run pushed the lead to nine at halftime, 56-47. Bey had 13 points through two quarters; Williamson was right behind at 12. Yves Missi, quietly having a monster game, had already grabbed 10 rebounds before the break. Wembanyama and Vassell each had 8 for San Antonio at the half, but the Spurs were being outworked on the glass.

Quarter 3: New Orleans Goes for the Kill

The Pelicans picked up where they left off, extending the lead all the way to 19 points. At 72-53 with just over seven minutes remaining in the third, the game looked over. San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson responded by subbing out his entire starting lineup in a bold tactical reset. It worked, but not immediately. The Spurs gradually clawed back in the quarter, chipping the lead to 82-70 heading into the fourth. The reset had given San Antonio’s bench players minutes against subs, and their energy levels were refreshed.

Quarter 4: The Most Dramatic Swing of the Night

If there is one quarter in the 2025-26 NBA season that encapsulates what makes basketball great, this might be it. San Antonio ripped off 24 consecutive points against just 5 from New Orleans to open the fourth. Stephon Castle hit a pair of free throws to put the Spurs up 93-89 with 4:39 left. Then came the moment that decided the game: Trey Murphy III’s three-pointer with 2:54 remaining swung momentum back to New Orleans at 95-93. The Pelicans extended to 98-93, and when the Spurs missed all four of their final free throw attempts, New Orleans closed on a 17-3 burst to win 104-95.

Standout Individual Performances

Star Players and Their Stats

Every major contributor in this basketball game earned their moment. Bey and Williamson delivered mirror-image double-doubles, a rare symmetry that gave New Orleans the kind of dual-engine attack that is hard for any defense to neutralize. Murphy’s 9 assists were a career-best signal of his growth as a playmaker. On the Spurs’ side, Wembanyama’s 16-16 game was genuinely special, but San Antonio got zero help from the charity stripe at the moments it mattered most.

Shooting Percentages by Team

The free throw column is where this game was won and lost. San Antonio actually shot better from the field overall, making 53.3% of their attempts compared to New Orleans’ 47.9%. But converting just 19 of 32 free throws, a woeful 59.4%, meant the Spurs left points on the board throughout. New Orleans hit 82.4% of their attempts from the line and used those makes to anchor the final lead.

Assists, Steals, and Blocks

Both teams were active offensively, but the Spurs dominated paint points 62-54 on Wembanyama’s activity. New Orleans countered with the better steal total and won the turnover-to-points conversion battle in ways that mattered. Murphy’s nine assists were the night’s most surprising stat, showing how New Orleans played with genuine ball movement rather than individual isolation.

Key Statistics

Final Score and Team Totals

Both teams finished with exactly 12 turnovers each, so there was genuine parity in ball security. Rebounding favored San Antonio slightly at 43-40, with Wembanyama’s 16 boards explaining much of that gap. But New Orleans’ 11 offensive rebounds generated extra possessions that the Pelicans converted into 16 fast break points.

Head-to-Head History

Recent Spurs vs Pelicans Matchups

The history between these two Southwest Division rivals over the past two-plus years has been remarkably competitive. San Antonio held a lead in this season series before the January 25 result, but the Pelicans’ win prevented the sweep. The 2024 game at Frost Bank Center remains one of the most memorable finishes, with Williamson’s layup with under four seconds left deciding it. This latest meeting continues a trend of physical, contested games between two teams that genuinely do not like giving each other anything easily.

Quotes and Reactions

The post-game reaction in the locker rooms reflected both the drama of what had unfolded and the very different emotions on each side:

• Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans, post-game): “We let them back in, and I won’t sugarcoat that. But we didn’t panic. We made the big plays we needed to. That’s growth for this team.”
• Saddiq Bey (New Orleans Pelicans, post-game): “This win means a lot. We’ve been through a tough stretch and coming into San Antonio and finishing like this, staying composed with the game on the line, that builds character.”
• Trey Murphy III (New Orleans Pelicans, post-game): “I’ve been working on that playmaking. Nine assists tonight, I’m comfortable making reads now. The three at the end just felt right. My guys trusted me and I trusted myself.”
• Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs, post-game): “I felt like we competed in the fourth quarter, showed what we can do. The free throws hurt us and we all know it. That’s something we have to be better at.”
• Mitch Johnson (San Antonio Spurs Head Coach, post-game): “The adjustment we made in the third worked. We got ourselves back in the game. Free throw execution in the final minutes, that cost us tonight. It’s correctable, but it stings.”

Analyst Reaction

Match Analysis: What Went Right and Wrong

New Orleans Pelicans

San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs Vs New Orleans Pelicans Match Player Stats point to a deeper truth: San Antonio is a better basketball team on pure efficiency this season, but New Orleans won the mental game when it counted. The Spurs’ free throw crisis in crunch time is not a new problem, and it cost them here in the most direct way possible. New Orleans’ ability to close out a game that looked lost is the most encouraging sign in what has been a difficult year for the Pelicans.

What This Game Means in the Standings

At the time of this game, the Southwest Division standings painted a clear picture. San Antonio sat atop the Western Conference as one of the league’s best teams, while New Orleans was in the bottom half of the West, battling for relevance rather than playoff positioning. The Pelicans finishing the season with a 26-56 record shows this was ultimately a feel-good individual moment rather than a turning point in their season trajectory.

For the Spurs, the loss was a bump in an otherwise dominant year. Their season record placed them first in the division, and a single regular season defeat to a struggling Pelicans team was not going to damage their standing meaningfully. The bigger picture remained clear: San Antonio was heading into the postseason as a genuine contender.

What the San Antonio Spurs Vs New Orleans Pelicans Match Player Stats from this night revealed about the Pelicans, though, is that with Williamson healthy and Bey playing with confidence, the individual talent is real. The gap in the standings is structural, a roster depth issue, not a question of whether the best players on this team can perform at a high level.

Conclusion

This basketball game was a fitting reminder of why the NBA regular season is worth watching. The San Antonio Spurs Vs New Orleans Pelicans match player stats captured something that raw numbers rarely manage to frame fully: two teams giving everything they had, a 20-point lead nearly turning into the most stunning collapse of the season, and then the clutch plays, Murphy’s triple, Missi’s dunk, missed Spurs free throws, settling it for the visitors.

New Orleans takes second straight wins and some much-needed confidence. San Antonio takes a painful loss but remains among the West’s elite. The next meeting between these two Southwest Division rivals will carry the memory of this night, and that is exactly how rivalry games should work.

? FAQs

Q: What was the final score of the Pelicans vs Spurs game on January 25, 2026?

A: New Orleans Pelicans 104, San Antonio Spurs 95.

Q: Who were the top scorers in the San Antonio Spurs Vs New Orleans Pelicans match player stats?

A: Saddiq Bey and Zion Williamson each scored 24 points with 10 rebounds for New Orleans. Victor Wembanyama led San Antonio with 16 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks.

Q: What was Trey Murphy III’s stat line in this game?

A: Murphy finished with 17 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds. His three-pointer with 2:54 remaining proved to be the game-winning shot.

Q: Where was the Pelicans vs Spurs game played?

A: Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, before a crowd of 18,363.

Q: Did Devin Vassell play in this game?

A: Yes. It was Vassell’s first game since December 29 after missing 13 games with a strained left adductor. He scored 13 points in 25 minutes.

Q: How did the Spurs blow a lead they never had, and how did New Orleans blow one they did?

A: New Orleans led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter. San Antonio opened the fourth with a 24-5 run to actually take the lead 88-87. But the Pelicans’ 17-3 closing burst, powered by Murphy’s three and Yves Missi’s dunk, sealed the 104-95 result.

Q: What was San Antonio’s free throw shooting in this game?

A: The Spurs made just 19 of 32 free throw attempts (59.4%), including missing their final four with New Orleans ahead 98-93. That poor execution at the line was the primary reason they lost.

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