The San Antonio Spurs were playing in front of a sold-out crowd at home as they got ready to take on the Miami Heat, another team with a potent offense.

San Antonio’s comeback attempt against the Minnesota Timberwolves just one game earlier ultimately failed. Back then, the Spurs lacked their signature look and the courts were green.

It’s San Antonio, but it’s not the Spurs,” Victor Wembanyama said of the city jerseys.

San Antonio went into combat with courts that yelled “Spurs” and a jersey to match. But it came up just missing once again, taking a 118-113 loss to the locker room at the end of the fourth quarter.

The Spurs had a good shooting night from the field (46.2 percent) and from outside the arc (43.2 percent), but they still lost to the Heat in the final seconds.

Keldon Johnson scored 20 points and dished out six assists to lead San Antonio to a loss, while Victor Wembanyama contributed 18 points, 11 boards, and two assists of his own.

Both teams came out strong and battled each other. Midway through the first quarter, San Antonio opened up a comfortable double-digit lead on the strength of baskets from Keldon Johnson, Victor Wembanyama, and Devin Vassell.

As the first quarter ended, the lead had grown to as high as 14 points.

After that, Miami showed the Spurs that the East was not without its winning teams.

The Heat nearly came back from a four-point deficit with less than five minutes to go thanks to Bam Adebayo (24 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals) and Duncan Robinson (26 points on 8-for-13 shooting from deep). It maintained that deficit until halftime, entering the locker room trailing by only three points to the Spurs.

Nothing changed in the second half. There were still around 30 seconds left in the third quarter, and both teams were trading points. After Kevin Love’s free throws gave Miami the lead for the first time, Malaki Branham went on a tear, and his And-1 3-pointer gave the Heat the advantage heading into the final period.

Wembanyama thereafter assumed leadership. At least, he did what he could.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Spurs built an 11-point lead on a midrange pull-up, an alley-oop finish, and a 3-pointer, and they tried to maintain that lead for the rest of the period. Doug McDermott contributed a couple of threes to that cause, but the Heat were able to stay within striking distance thanks to the efforts of Adebayo, Duncan Robinson, and Butler.

Two of Sochan’s one-handed free throws put San Antonio back in ahead after Butler netted two more points on a midrange fadeaway, and the last two minutes proceeded.

After the Spurs turned the ball over with a chance to tie the game, Josh Richardson made a two-point shot, and two free throws sealed the deal for the Heat in a 118-113 road triumph.

Spurs enter into Tuesday’s road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 3-7 record after this setback, which will be the first regular-season encounter between Chet Holmgren and Wembanyama.

San Antonio may improve its Western Conference standing with a victory, but a loss would extend its dismal skid to five games.

The game will begin at Paycom Center on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CST.