Not only are they joint leaders of the Western Conference, level with the Thunder and the Lakers (8-2), but they are the form team in the NBA, as their run of eight consecutive victories shows.
After shaking off the rust with which they began the season, falling to two big opponents in the Rockets and OKC, they have picked up steamroller momentum, taking advantage of a kind schedule, with the Timberwolves as the only truly serious opponent.
Last night’s game could have been one too, had they had their full squad. But the Portland Trail Blazers hosted the Spurs at the Moda Center with blunted extremes. No Ja Morant on the perimeter and no Robert Williams III in the paint. Would the outcome have been different with them? We don’t know, but without them the defeat was emphatic: 103-125.
It was an opportunity, on the other hand, to rescue Yang Hansen from obscurity and to do it in style; against none other than Victor Wembanyama, the top contender for MVP alongside Luka Doncic and SGA, and to answer the challenge with his first NBA double-double: 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Chinese centre, whose maximum in the rotation over the previous five games was thirteen minutes. Against San Antonio he went up to twenty-six.
Percentages improving little by little
Still, delivering statistically is one thing and posing a real problem for the unicorn of the moment is another. Neither he – although he overlapped more with the substitutes – nor Donovan Clingan were a problem for the Frenchman, who did whatever he wanted to finish with 29 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 9 of 13 from the field.
One of the concerns at the start of the season was seeing Wemby, a man of over seven feet, with shooting percentages more typical of a wayward shooting guard. His ideal of playing – and shooting – a lot from outside makes you wonder, beyond his status as a versatile big man with ball-handling ability, whether he is squandering his true potential to wreak havoc in his natural area of impact: inside the paint.
But as the games go by, the accuracy is coming. From the perimeter too, where he hit 3 of his 6 three-point attempts against the Blazers. After all, to justify his love of the three-pointer (more than six attempts per game) he has to start making them. Right now he is at 30.6%. Reaching 35% must be an obligation.
In field goals, after ten regular season games, he is once again above 50% accuracy. And the Spurs keep winning and winning. As long as the latter continues, there will be no murmuring about ‘Wemby’s excesses’ while he continues to evolve his shot selection.
(Cover photo by Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images)
