“It was a great support from the crowd,” said Wembanyama after the Spurs’ win over the Pacers.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs beat the Indiana Pacers 140-110 in Paris, France. San Antonio outscored Indiana 45-23 in the third en route to the win.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Harrison Barnes had 20, and Chris Paul had three and seven assists.
Devin Vassell recorded 25 and three rebounds, Jeremy Sochan added 13 and nine rebounds in his return to the court, and Keldon Johnson had nine and three rebounds. Stephon Castle had nine. Julian Champagnie recorded seven.
Head coach Gregg Popovich was also out due to illness. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson continues to assume head coaching duties for the game.
The Spurs are 20-22 this season and will face the Pacers on Saturday in Paris.
Here’s a sample of what the teams said after the game.
Mitch Johnson:
“We’re just trying to play good basketball. We have lost some games that we feel like we shouldn’t have. Played some really good stretches of basketball and have absolutely collapsed in a short amount of time and probably have cost us some games. And I think we’re just trying to put together more consistent minutes and stretches of the 48.”
Chris Paul:
“We got to win some more, but anytime you are a team trying to learn, you want to win and learn at the same time. You heard me say that all season long. It is tough. It is tough when you keep losing close games, right? And everyone always wants to say it’s a young team, it’s a young team, but we are 42 games into the season now. Season’s halfway gone, so we got to keep learning.”
“Overall, I was proud of our effort over the course of the game. Defensively, the last couple games, we haven’t been our best, so I thought tonight we were able to put together 48 minutes and I was just proud of everyone who came out there. I thought that we stepped up, we communicated well and did a good job in transition defense.”
Wembanyama:
“Tonight was definitely different because it’s a different kind of support that the crowd brings, and so we try to use the say that the circumstances to our advantage every time, and tonight was an easy night to use those in our advantage. So, it was a great support from the crowd.”
“He (Wembanyama) was himself and that’s great. Honestly, three possessions in a row. He got a block, threw it off the backboard to himself. Got an alley (oop). He made all the right plays today. I know he was super excited to play out here, so we were just about to get a win.”
Rick Carlisle:
“I don’t know if we’ve ever given up that many points in a quarter. Even when we were bad on defense, giving up 45 points in one quarter, it’s alarming, and so you got to give the Spurs a lot of credit. They played at a high level, led by Victor, who was sensational. Their shot-making was great. We’ve just got to be much, much better.”