“Everyone had their opportunity to shine,” said Victor Wembanyama following the Spurs’ win over the Lakers.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs beat the Lakers 126-102 on the road to snap their three-game losing skid.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 23 points and eight rebounds. Harrison Barnes had 17, and Chris Paul had 13 and 10 assists.
Devin Vassell recorded 23 and six rebounds, Keldon Johnson had 10 and two rebounds to lead the team, and Stephon Castle had 23. Julian Champagnie added two.
Head coach Gregg Popovich was also out due to illness, and Jeremy Sochan was out due to back issues. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson assumed head coaching duties for the game.
The Spurs are 19-19 this season and will host the Grizzlies on Wednesday night.
Here’s a sample of what the teams said after the game.
Mitch Johnson:
“We’ve played good basketball and that’s kind of how that first half felt. We were playing better basketball than the score said. And sometimes you have to trust that. Trust the process.”
“Tonight, I think, was probably our best game as a collective group, especially offensively, and we saw some of that when we paired the defense with that.”
“Put him (Wembanyama) in the NBA All Star Game. He deserves it. He plays the game the right way. As humble of a star as you’d ever come across, gonna be the Defensive Player of the Year. Got an opportunity to do it for 20 years straight. He just an unbelievable player, but I say this every time I talk about him, I wish everybody got to know him on a personal basis, and if you knew him like that, you’d be a bigger fan of his team.”
Wembanyama:
“Today was a very ethical game on our part. My teammates just respected the game and did a lot of things that don’t show up in the stat sheet, and everyone had their opportunity to shine. To make the next teammate better. So it was a very healthy game.”
Rui Hachimura