Vassell scores 31 and Wembanyama has 19 points and 5 blocks to lead Spurs past Jazz 118-111

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Devin Vassell scored 31 points, Victor Wembanyama had 19 points and five blocks and the San Antonio Spurs ran past the Utah Jazz 118-111 on Wednesday night.

“He’s becoming a real problem for defenses,” Wembanyama said of Vassell. “It’s beautiful to see him evolve like this throughout the year.”

The Spurs, second in the league in assists behind Indiana, had a season-high 40 on 44 field goals. San Antonio also shot 51.8% from the field and were well above .500 from 3-point range until missing their final four attempts and finishing 16 of 33.

“That’s Spurs basketball … and Pop preaches it all the time,” Vassell said of coach Gregg Popovich. “We were knocking down shots today and everybody was sharing it.”

Jeremy Sochan, Julian Champagnie and Malaki Branham all scored 17 points for San Antonio. But it was Vassell who was the catalyst.

“Get downhill, get to my spots, pick them apart. If they’re trapping me, I can hit the short roll or skip or whatever the pass is, and they’ve been knocking down shots,” said Vassell, who had his sixth 30-point game of the season along with six assists.