Spurs go winless in California after D-Fenders complete improbable comeback

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LOS ANGELES – With seven seconds left and the ball in his hands, Vander Blue waltzed up the court looking for his shot and the win.

Hollis Thompson quickly backpedaled looking to cut off any path to the rim, but instantly realized his mistake as Vander Blue pulled up from 30 feet.

The Austin Spurs blew a 19-point lead on Sunday night, capped off by Blue’s ridiculous game-winning 3-pointer, to lose to the Los Angeles D-Fenders, 121-118.

Six Spurs scored in double figures led by Patricio Garino’s 19 points. Hollis Thompson had 16 points and nine rebounds in 32 minutes. Jeff Ledbetter also had 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc, while Livio Jean-Charles flirted with a triple-double with a stat line of 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

For the D-Fenders, Josh Magette fell short of his triple-double quest with 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Justin Harper added 24 points in 34 minutes of action, while David Nwaba had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Julian Jacobs had 25 points off the bench.

Austin started the game on fire, shooting 58 percent from the field and 80 percent on 3-pointers, en route to a 34-point first quarter.

The D-Fenders offensive woes would be rectified throughout the rest of the game, but defensively couldn’t prevent the Spurs from putting the ball in the basket.

Austin extended their lead to as much as 19 points before heading into the fourth quarter up 99-89.

A quick 5-0 run by the Spurs would push the lead to 15 points before everything began to unravel. But turnovers and poor shooting would doom Austin slowly as Los Angeles burned the nets down from beyond the arc, going 5-for-10 on 3-pointers in the final frame.

Then, this happened…

On the following possession, the Spurs failed to inbound the ball properly as Thompson was stepping out of bounds when he received the inbound pass, letting Los Angeles hang on for the 121-118 victory.

Up next for the Austin Spurs (15-19) will be a 10-day vacation as All-Star festivities get under way. You can catch the silver and black take on the Sioux Falls Skyforce (22-13) on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on Facebook Live and Fox Sports Southwest from the HEB Center at Cedar Park.

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