Despite Victor Wembanyama’s recent absence, the San Antonio Spurs thrived.
SAN ANTONIO — Without San Antonio Spurs‘ Victor Wembanyama due to a calf injury, many penciled the Spurs to struggle and dip in the West standings.
But that was not the case whatsoever as the Spurs went 9-3 without their star player until he returned to the court in the NBA Cup West Semifinals.
During that stretch, the Spurs got big road wins over the Nuggets (to advance to the NBA Cup Knockout game) and the Magic, and handled the Lakers in Los Angeles to punch their ticket to the NBA Cup Semifinals.
In addition, during Wemby’s 12-game absence, the Spurs held a +3.2 win margin, ranked third in the NBA in points per game at 121.8, sixth in three-point field goal percentage at 37.9%, and third in turnovers at 12.4.
And that kind of winning play caught the attention of Nuggets head coach David Adelman.
“By the way, San Antonio is really good if anyone hasn’t noticed,” Adelman said. “Wembanyama hasn’t played. I know we lost to them, but they’re OK. San Antonio got an OK team.”
On Nov. 28th in an NBA Cup game, the Spurs handed the Nuggets a 139-136 home loss without Wembanyama and Stephon Castle.
It was a game where everyone stepped up. Devin Vassell scored 35 points, Julian Champagnie added 25, and De’Aaron Fox recorded 14. San Antonio outscored Denver in the first, third, and fourth periods with 41 points in the first and 44 in the third.
With Wemby back, expect the Spurs’ defense to spike. If there was a loss while he was out, it was on the defensive end, but that was to be expected without his presence.
Now with Castle back, Dylan Harper also back from injury and playing well, and with the confidence the team has in succeeding without their cornerstone player, adding Wembanyama will undoubtedly improve the team’s odds of winning many more games.
Wemby is currently averaging 25.8 points, 12.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3.5 blocks this season.