Welcome to the 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 3: The Spurs lost a close game on the
road against Luka Doncic and the Lakers that ended up being more about the refs (for calling 66 fouls and 84 FT’s) than anything, followed by a thrilling, extremely satisfying In-Season Tournament win over the Houston Rockets, which also featured Victor Wembanyama busting out of his offensive slump. Finally, they took care of business the next night against an injured Pelicans squad.
Week 4: 2-2 (9-4, 5th in West)
121-117 win at Chicago Bulls
Recap: Perhaps a little hungover from their winning weekend at home, the Spurs traveled to Chicago for their only road game in an eight-game span. They led most of the first half but lost their way in the second, getting down by as much as 1o before riding a historic Wemby performance — first ever NBA game with 35+ points, 10+ rebounds, 5+ assists, 5+ three-pointers and 5+ blocks — to a surging fourth quarter victory, capped by back-to-back iso threes over Nikola Vucevic to secure the victory.
120-125 loss vs. Golden State Warriors
Recap: Despite another historic performance — this time with Wemby and Stephon Castle becoming the first Spurs duo to record triple-doubles in the same game while also beating out Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen as the youngest to ever do it — the Spurs couldn’t get out of their own way on the front of a of a home-home miniseries against the Warriors. 20 turnovers, a difference of 2o free throw attempts, and Steph Curry looking like his prime self (as if he ever really left his prime) all combined to doom the home team.
108-109 loss vs. Golden State Warriors (In-Season Tournament)
Recap: Back against the same team two nights later, this time with In-Season Tournament implications on the line, the Spurs looked much more ready and primed get revenge despite another nuclear performance from Curry. Unfortunately, poor clutch-time decisions on offense doomed them, and Curry sealed the deal, capping off his 49-point performance with two free throws with 6 seconds left.
122-110 win vs. Sacramento Kings
Recap: Despite being down Wemby (calf) and losing Stephon Castle (hip) at halftime, the Spurs had no trouble getting back on track against a severely struggling Kings team, led by two former Kings starters in De’Aaron Fox (28 points, 11 assists) and Harrison Barnes (20 points, 7-11 shooting). Beyond the lingering injury concerns, the biggest takeaway from this game was how much better the Spurs depth behind Wemby is this year. Luke Kornet fit in seamlessly with the starters, and Jeremy Sochan and Kelly Olynyk showed good chemistry off the bench.
Power Rankings
John Schuhmann, NBA.com — 9 (last week: 7)
OffRtg: 117.1 (10) DefRtg: 111.3 (5) NetRtg: +5.8 (6) Pace: 100.3 (23)
The Spurs doubled their loss total last week, getting torched by Stephen Curry as they got swept in a two-game series with the Warriors. But they remain in the top five in the West, picking up a win without Victor Wembanyama on Sunday.
Three takeaways
1. With Wembanyama (calf tightness) out for the first time this season, De’Aaron Fox picked up the slack, scoring 28 points and dishing out 11 assists in the Spurs’ win over the Kings on Sunday. Fox missed three big jumpers (including a step-back for the win) down the stretch of the Spurs’ loss to the Warriors two nights earlier, but he’s shot 28-for-43 (65%) in the paint and 12-for-13 at the line. Before Sunday, he had played 123 (90%) of his 136 minutes alongside Wembanyama.
2. Fox’s offense was even more necessary on Sunday, because Stephon Castle was lost to a hip injury in the first half. Castle is just 12-for-50 (24%) from 3-point range and 59-for-85 (69%) from the free throw line, but he’s playing at a high level in every other regard. In the Spurs’ win in Chicago last Monday, he had some great reads in the pick-and-roll and some wicked moves in transition.
3. Before the two-game series with Golden State, the Spurs had outscored their opponents by 14 points (allowing just 50 on 56 defensive possessions) in 27 minutes with Wembanyama and Luke Kornet on the floor together. But the double-big lineups struggled against the Warriors, getting outscored by nine points (scoring just 35 on 38 offensive possessions) as the Spurs lost the two-game series by just six points total.
Coming up: The Spurs will complete their five-game homestand with their first meetings with the Grizzlies and Hawks. A trip to Phoenix (the site of their worst defensive game of the season) is the start of a stretch where they’re playing seven of eight on the road.
Law Murray, The Athletic — 6 (last week: 8)
Starting point guard De’Aaron Fox came back just as Harper got injured. And now with Fox finishing his first week, shooting guard Stephon Castle left Fox’s Revenge Game against the Kings with a left hip injury. The Spurs couldn’t quite figure out the Warriors this week, but Fox and Victor Wembanyama have already played more minutes together this season (123) than all of last season (120).
Brett Siegel, Clutch Points — 6 (last week: 3)
If it wasn’t for Stephen Curry continuing to prove that he is the face of the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs would have gone 4-0 this past week and be one of those two-loss teams at the top of the NBA power rankings. While the Spurs are still ranked high, they simply couldn’t overcome the Warriors in back-to-back games despite great performances from Victor Wembanyama.
The Spurs are simply young, and these two losses to Golden State are actually a blessing in disguise. Not only will Wembanyama and his teammates learn from these games to become better, but so will first-year head coach Mitch Johnson. Losses like these need to happen for San Antonio to grow, as they are still in a great position to make noise in the West this season.
San Antonio can get back on track this week against three teams that have been very average this season.
Coming up: Tues. 11/18 vs. Memphis Grizzlies (4-10); Thurs. 11/20 vs. Atlanta Hawks (9-5); Sun. 11/23 at Phoenix Suns (8-6)
Prediction: 2-1 — The Spurs have two chances to turn this five-game homestand into a winning one before they play seven of their next eight on the road. It’s hard to know what to predict with the unclear statuses of Wemby and Castle (plus Dylan Harper), but they should at least start with a win against the sinking Grizzlies no matter who plays. Then things get interesting. The Hawks have suddenly gone 8-2 with Trae Young out for the last 10 games. That doesn’t bode well for the swap rights the Spurs own to their pick, but all they can do to play a role in that is win the two match-ups, beginning with this one. Then, they will get a chance to revenge their worst lost of the season so far against the Suns, who have turned things around since a slow start.
