The San Antonio Spurs have completed one of the roughest back-to-back matchups any team in the NBA has encountered this season. After Victor Wembanyama led them to a 121-106 win over the East-leading Detroit Pistons on Thursday, the Spurs hosted the feisty LA Clippers on Friday night. After a tough game where the Spurs overturned a 25-point deficit to seal a 116-112 win, the franchise completed back-to-back wins that tested them heavily but also showed their championship mettle.
Wembanyama put up 38 points (12-24 FG) and 16 rebounds in the win over the Pistons before putting up 27 points (11-21 FG) and 10 rebounds against the Clippers.
He’s led the team admirably over this stretch and spoke to the media after the game. He openly admitted that he was fatigued to the point of exhaustion after these two games against two tough defensive sides, where they had to use everything they had to secure these wins.
“I thought I was about to pass out in the first quarter from exhaustion. That was close to being the hardest game of my life. It might not have looked like it. But we played a hell of a game against the most physical team in the league yesterday, and played tonight against a physical team as well. I’m about to pass out.”
“This was a statement for sure. Any game is winnable because this was one of the hardest games of my career.”
The Clippers employed an aggressive nine-man unit in this game, attacking the Spurs scorers for 48 minutes through a clever defensive strategy cooked up by coach Ty Lue. Knowing Wembanyama will likely have a reduced rotational load, the team relentlessly attacked the center when he was on the ball, leading to mixed results before a strong second half to secure the comeback win.
The Clippers were led by Kawhi Leonard’s 30 points (10-20 FG) and nine rebounds, while Brook Lopez had a breakout game with 26 points (11-18 FG) in the Wembanyama matchup. Jordan Miller had an impressive 11 points and six rebounds off the bench, with the team playing aggressive defense with extended minutes for Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn.
Wembanyama saw crucial contributions from teammates like Julian Champagnie (20 PTS, 9 REB) and De’Aaron Fox (19 PTS, 9 AST) to help them secure their 46th win of the season. They’re looking comfortable as the No. 2 seed in the West, sitting 6.5 games ahead of the No. 3 seed Minnesota Timberwolves. With just a 2.5-game gap to the OKC Thunder, the Spurs can genuinely push to earn the No. 1 seed for what would be Wembanyama’s first-ever Playoff appearance.
The Spurs will only get a one-day rest after this rough back-to-back, hosting the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. The Spurs have always exercised caution with Wembanyama’s health, so it’ll be interesting to see how his physical admission affects his minutes against the Rockets.
Houston has a 39-23 record and the No. 4 seed in the West, and shares a lot of the aggressive defensive traits with the Pistons and Clippers, so Wembanyama might be in for another tiring night. He’s averaging 23.8 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.0 blocks this season, so it’s clear he’s up for whatever challenge is thrown at him.
Expectations were sky-high for Wembanyama when he entered the NBA, but with how his third season is going, it seems he’s living upto it all. If he stays healthy for the rest of the regular season and the Spurs steal the No. 1 seed from the Thunder, he might genuinely make NBA history as the youngest MVP winner this season.
