The San Antonio Spurs’ loss to the Charlotte Hornets earlier in the season may have been one of the most disappointing losses of the year… at least if you ask Victor Wembanyama.
After the Spurs’ 115-102 win over Charlotte on their home court, Wembanyama told the Amazon Prime crew that the loss to the Hornets was his “worst defensive game.” It was clear that this game was a chance to make amends. Wembanyama dominated in response.
The star big man had 32 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and
4 blocks. The Hornets scored just 30 points in the paint because Wembanyama had it almost completely walled off. While not an official stat, Charlotte may have had the most “nopes” I’ve seen against the Spurs in the Wemby era, completely abandoning drives several times in the same possession. On the other end, there wasn’t a single Hornet who could slow down Wembanyama. He could get a basket just about any time he wanted.
This game, despite being a somewhat inconsequential Saturday matinee, shows a lot about Wembanyama and the Spurs’ overall mentality. They want to win, and when they don’t, they take it personally. It was clear from the jump that the team remembered the sting of the earlier loss to Charlotte. That’s the mentality of a team ready to compete. When they lose a playoff game (and rest assured, they will), they can either let it rattle them or get motivated to win the next one. Saturday’s win shows that Wembanyama and his teammates have a winning mentality.
Takeaways:
- The French vanilla minutes on Saturday were great. Wembanyama’s playmaking really stood out as he hit Kornet several times on lobs. It’s not always a sustainable lineup, but in a game when Wembanyama’s perimeter game is seeing a lot of success, it makes sense to throw another big body in there to wall off the paint even more and punish teams on the glass. The Spurs out-rebounded the Hornets 54-39.
- Stephon Castle has been great since the All-Star break. He almost had another triple-double with 15 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds. He guarded everyone on the Hornets as well, which is no small feat given all the screening they do for their shooters. After the game, Keldon Johnson said that Castle deserves first-team all-defense.
- The Spurs shot 33% from deep, but dominated the paint. They outscored Charlotte 58-30 inside. We’ve already covered how Wembanyama walled off the paint, but offensively, the Spurs went right at Charlotte inside. Carter Bryant had a few good cuts for dunks, Keldon Johnson was physical inside, and De’Aaron Fox hit creative shots in the paint. The team is so much better when they are aggressively attacking the paint. We’ve seen a lot of that style of play over the course of the last two months.
- Fox deserves a lot of credit for being the Spurs’ steadying hand. Whenever the Hornets would make a run, the veteran guard would be there to get San Antonio into a good offensive set or make something happen himself. Fox had 17 points on 6-16 shooting in the win.
- Bryant missed another big-time dunk on Saturday. If my memory serves me right, that’s his second since the team threatened to shave his head. We may see bald Bryant before the end of the season.
