Welcome to Week in Review: a Monday feature that looks back at the week that was for the San Antonio Spurs, takes a look at the week ahead, and more. Enjoy!
Week 20: From a massive blowout in Philadelphia to close the Rodeo Road trip with an 8-1 record, to another competitive win over the Pistons in the return home, an emotionally draining 25-point comeback against the Clippers, and finally a comfortable blowout of their rival Rockets, it was a fun week that had it all as the Spurs played in San Antonio
for the first time in a month.
Week 21: 2-1 (49-18, 2nd in West)
125-116 win vs. Boston Celtics
With Jayson Tatum back from a ruptured Achilles suffered last season, the Spurs traded leads with the Celtics in a highly competitive first half, but things took a turn in their favor when Jaylen Brown got himself ejected late in the second quarter for volatilely arguing for a foul on a Stephon Castle “push” (that looked much more like a flop on Brown’s part). The Spurs held the lead for the entire second half, countering a 34-point outing from former Spur Derrick White with a 39-point one from Victor Wembanyama, which included tying his career high of 8 made three-pointers.
131-136 loss vs. Denver Nuggets
With Wemby a late scratch due to a sore ankle, at first the Spurs didn’t miss a beat without him, leading by has much as 20 points and in control for the first 2 1/2 quarters of the game while using Castle’s second career 30-point triple-double to offset a 30-20-12 night from Nikola Jokic. Unfortunately, they offense went cold late in the third quarter, and combined with Jokic’s pleading for calls finally getting in the refs’ heads and Jamal Murray going nuclear on offense, the Nuggets rallied back to hand the Spurs just their second loss since January 31 and end their five-game winning streak.
115-102 win vs. Charlotte Hornets
Speaking of January 31, the Spurs were ready to get revenge for that winter debacle that involved gametime changes and getting stranded in the snow in Charlotte. With Wemby back from his one-game absence, the Spurs returned to their February/March selves with a steady blowout of the Hornets. They led throughout and always had an answer whenever Charlotte threatened to make things interesting. Wemby remained hot from three with five more makes and just missed his own triple-double with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists.
Power Rankings
John Schuhmann, NBA.com — 2 (last week: 1)
OffRtg: 117.7 (4) DefRtg: 110.5 (3) NetRtg: +7.2 (4) Pace: 100.9 (12)
Victor Wembanyama missed a game for the first time since early January and the Spurs blew a 20-point lead to the Nuggets. But they’ve won 17 of the last 18 games that Wembanyama has played in, with the last five having come against the Pistons, Clippers, Rockets, Celtics and Hornets.
Three takeaways
1. The Spurs have outscored their opponents by an amazing 23.6 points per 100 possessions in Wembanyama’s 540 minutes on the floor over those 18 games. That’s the best on-court mark among 339 players who’ve played in at least 10 games since Feb. 1. And 13 of those 18 games he’s played in have come against teams currently at or above .500.
2. The Celtics dared the Spurs to shoot 3-pointers, and they did, registering their highest 3-point rate (55% of their shots) of the season on Tuesday. They shot 20-for-46 (43%) from deep, but also outscored the Celtics at the free throw line, with Wembanyama going 8-for-15 from beyond the arc and 9-for-12 from the stripe. Stephon Castle (who had a 30-point triple-double in the loss to Denver) still isn’t shooting a lot of 3-pointers, but he’s 18-for-45 (40%) from beyond the arc since the All-Star break, up from 29% prior.
3. The Spurs have been at their best (plus-12.3 points per 100 possessions) in the first quarter and have led by double-digits in 13 (72%) of their 18 losses. That would be, by far, the highest rate for any team in the 30 seasons of play-by-play data, with only one other team in that time (the 2019-20 Heat, 55%) having had double-digit leads in at least half of the games it lost.Coming up: The Spurs will play eight of their next 11 games on the road, with a potential first-round preview at the Intuit Dome on Monday. They came back from 25 points down to win their first meeting with the Clippers 10 days ago.
Law Murray, The Athletic — 2 (last week: 1)
2025 draft class: PG Dylan Harper (second pick), SG Carter Bryant (14th pick)
San Antonio went 5-1 on its homestand, with the loss coming in the game that Victor Wembanyama missed; the Spurs also blew a 20-point lead to the Nuggets, and their defense was horrible. If the intent was to help Wembanyama get a Defensive Player of the Year trophy, it did the job. Harper has a calf contusion, but he has been a helpful part of a San Antonio team that has arguably the most enviable guard depth in the league. Harper isn’t in a position to shine while sharing the ball with starters Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, and Harper has to iron out his jumper. But he is an assignment-sound rookie, while Bryant is the 10th man in the rotation due to his strong defense.
Brett Siegel, Clutch Points — N/A (last week: 1)
Coming soon
Coming up: Mon. 3/16 at Los Angeles Clippers (34-33); Tues. 3/17 at Sacramento Kings (15-51); Thurs. 3/19 vs. Phoenix Suns (39-28); Sat. 3/21 vs. Indiana Pacers (15-53)
Prediction: 4-0 — Are the Spurs unbeatable when Wemby plays right now? That may be a stretch, but this is a relatively friendly schedule after that gauntlet of a six-game homestand in which they still went 5-0 when he played. They have a couple of match-ups with potential first-round opponents, along with two games against teams that are already eliminated from playoff contention and have nothing but draft odds to play for. As they showed last week, the Clippers will be the hardest matchup of these games (especially with Dillon Brooks out for the Suns), but the Spurs won’t be at a rest disadvantage this time, plus now they now know what to expect from Kawhi and Co.
