Week in Review: Spurs end roller coaster week on a high note
After a disappointing effort in Houston and heartbreaker in Sacramento, the Spurs came out swinging in Golden State.
Welcome to the Week in Review! We are trying something new, where instead of writing out a whole summary of the week, links are provided to the recaps and WWL’s, where you can dive deeper into each game if you missed it. Let us know what you think in the comments below, and feel free to provide feedback or suggestions for future Week in Reviews that would interest you. Enjoy!
Week 19: The Spurs returned home from a rough Rodeo Road Trip with two dominant home wins against the postseason-bound Thunder and Pacers.
Week 20: 1-2 (14-50, 15th in West)
101-114 L @ Houston Rockets
- Recap — Spurs road woes return in sloppy loss to Rockets
- What We Learned
129-131 L @ Sacramento Kings
- Recap — Spurs lose heartbreaker in Sacramento after mounting impressive comeback
- What We Learned
126-113 W @ Golden State Warriors
- Recap — Shorthanded Spurs use a full team effort to beat the Warriors
- What We Learned
In case you missed it
- Victor Wembanyama’s dominance might force the Spurs to speed up their rebuilt — PtR contributors discuss whether the Spurs should accelerate their rebuild around Wemby, how open they should be to trading their abundance of draft picks, and more.
- Spurs Playbook: Wemby, Sochan and death by a thousand cuts — Jacob Douglas reviews how Jeremy Sochan is learning to read the floor and when to cut to the basket, taking advantage of the defensive gravity other players command.
- How the Spurs defense has improved in the second half of in the season — Nik Patel breaks down the numbers showing how the Spurs defense has improved lately.
- Why Tre Jones’ skillset is essential for the Spurs — Even though his stats don’t jump off the page, Jesus Gomez shows how important Tre Jones is to the Spurs.
- For all things Wemby, check out Every day is Wembsday, courtesy of Mikey Rouleau.
Power Rankings
John Schuhmann, NBA.com — 25 (last week: 25)
OffRtg: 109.9 (27) DefRtg: 117.3 (23) NetRtg: -7.5 (26) Pace: 102.2 (3)
The Spurs have been eliminated from playoff contention, but they did get their first win (they were previously 0-7) without Victor Wembanyama, keeping the Warriors winless without Stephen Curry.
Two takeaways
1. The last two games without Wembanyama have been two of the Spurs’ seven most efficient offensive performances of the season (125 points scored per 100 possessions total), and the win over the Warriors also came without Devin Vassell. Keldon Johnson is the Spurs’ rotation player who has seen the biggest drop in usage rate (from 27.3% to 21.8%) with the addition of Wembanyama this season but totaled a team-high 44 points (off the bench) over the two games. He has an effective field goal percentage of 59.3% since the All-Star break, up from 51.3% before the break.
2. Wembanyama blocked seven shots in the game (a loss in Houston) in which he sprained his ankle. He has 70 more blocks than personal fouls (193-123), which would be the biggest differential for any player in the last 20 seasons (since Ben Wallace – +84 – in 2003-04). Only five other players (among the 322 who’ve played at least 500 minutes) have more blocks than fouls this season.
The Spurs will now begin the longest homestand for any team this season: eight games over 15 days. They’re 2-0 at home since the All-Star break, with both wins having come against teams — the Thunder and Pacers — with winning records.
Brett Siegel, Clutch Points — 26 (last week: 25)
The highlight of the Spurs’ season came this past week when they defeated the Warriors without Wembanyama, this team’s first win this year without their star rookie.
Now, the Spurs look ahead to traveling to Austin, Texas, for two games against the Nuggets and Nets at the end of the week. Wembanyama against Jokic should surely be a sight to see, especially for thousands of Texas Longhorn college students.
YeeHaw!
Coming up: Mon. 3/11 vs. Golden State Warriors; Tues. 3/12 vs. Houston Rockets; Fri. 3/15 vs. Denver Nuggets (in Austin); Sun. 3/17 vs. Brooklyn Nets (in Austin)
Prediction: 3-1 — Another shot at the Steph Curry-less Warriors with Wemby and likely Devin Vassell back should be a win, and the Spurs should be revenge-minded against the Rockets who unfortunately will be without Alperen Sengun. (Graphic content warning for anyone who is brave enough to look up his injury from last night; I’m still traumatized from accidently watching it and wish him nothing but the best in his recovery.) I also see at least one win in Austin, with the Nets being the much better bet.
