The Spurs left Florida with heavy suitcases.
In two days and two matches, they lost twice and conceded 243 points.
Facing Orlando on the night from Thursday to Friday (127-111), like the day before in Miami (116-104), the Texans did not exist, and Victor Wembanyama even seemed out of shape, sometimes next to his pumps.
This is perhaps the worst performance from number 1 of the last Draft since the start of the season.
The French giant scored 15 points, a fairly discreet total for him.
Above all, he was beaten on many balls (5 turnovers), showed less defensive impact than usual, and he only took one rebound in the match, in the fourth quarter.
“He fell asleep a little”
An observation established at the start of the meeting by the legend Sean Elliott, consultant for Bally Sport: “Victor fell a little asleep on this action”, points out the former player, while Wembanyama is overtaken by Frantz Wagner .
The Spurs concede a 9-0 and Popovich calls the first timeout of the match.
Victor Wembanyama then misses a pass to Tre Jones and claps his hands several times, as if to wake up.
He continues by failing on two consecutive taps near the basket, but opens his counter by scoring three points, surprised that no one comes to defend on him.
trying to catch a body!!
😳@wemby |
#PorVida |
@Spurs |
@BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/B26prZdLl2
— Bally Sports San Antonio (@BallySportsSA) February 9, 2024
Oddly, it is at long distance that the rookie shines the most.
Like the day before in Miami (3 out of 5), he was rather effective from afar (2 out of 4).
At the start of the second quarter, he was open in the front following a hit.
He hits a mid-range shot but misses the next action, forgetting the clock and burying the ball after 24 seconds.
Popovich glances at him in disbelief.
“Playing so much is new for him”
The rest of the meeting is of the same ilk for Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, dominated without being able to compete by a team which displays a positive record in the eastern conference (27v, 24d).
Before halftime, he gathered his teammates under the basket for a motivational speech.
In the second half, he suffered a dunk from Moe Wagner, but took his revenge by flying towards the basket a few minutes later.
Also read “For Wembanyama, I have some slightly crazy ideas”: Kenny Atkinson, the American coach of the Blues at the Olympics
Once the score is over, he sits down on the bench and watches with a sad face as his teammates continue to drown.
“Playing so much is a new experience for him,” recalls Popovich.
I thought he was going to lack energy as the match progressed but he recovered quite well when he returned to the floor in the second half.
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Without their veteran, Doug McDermott, one of the best three-point shooters in the league, transferred to Indiana, but perhaps with another experienced player, Marcus Morris, recruited to Philadelphia, the Spurs will play their next game in Brooklyn on Saturday .