Week in Review: Spurs get two big road wins to reach NBA Cup quarterfinals
Welcome to the Week in Review: a Monday feature that looks back at the week that was for the San Antonio Spurs, takes a look at the week ahead, and more. Enjoy!
Week 5: Veterans De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes helped lead the suddenly shorthanded Spurs — with Victor Wembanyama (calf) and Stephon Castle (hip) added to the injury list — to a couple of clutch wins at home against the Grizzlies and Hawks before they once again fell on the road to a Suns squad that seems to have their number so far this season.
Week 6: 2-1 (13-6, 5th in West)
* In-Season Tournament
115-112 win at Portland Trail Blazers*
Recap: Fox continued to step up and lead the team in Wemby’s absence with 37 points to match a big night from the Blazers’ Deni Avdija. However, the difference for the Spurs was their depth, with Devin Vassell kicking off a hot week with 23 points along with three other Spurs scoring in double figures to keep their In-Season Tournament hopes alive. They also got a little healthier with the return of Dylan Harper from a calf strain.
139-136 win at Denver Nuggets*
Recap: Another big night from Vassell — this time 35 points on 7-9 from three, including some huge ones in the clutch — helped propel the Spurs in a second half surge over Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets to advance out of the “Group of Death” and into the quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament for the first time. Even though Jamal Murray had a game-high 37 points, the Spurs managed to hold Jokic relatively in check (at least by his standards) with physicality and by making him a passer instead of scorer (similar to approaches teams have taken with Wemby this season).
112-125 loss at Minnesota Timberwolves
Recap: After a strong start made it look like the Spurs might surprisingly sweep the week, their hot shooting finally abandoned them in the second half against the T-Wolves. Fox and Vassell once again led the way with a combined 47 points on 20-35 shooting, as well as Keldon Johnson and Harper contributing 22 and 17 points off the bench, respectively, but once Anthony Edwards got going in the second half and the threes started falling for Minnesota, they pulled away.
Power Rankings
John Schuhmann, NBA.com — 8 (last week: 8)
OffRtg: 118.0 (7) DefRtg: 113.5 (13) NetRtg: +4.5 (10) Pace: 99.9 (26)
The Spurs are 5-2 without Victor Wembanyama, having come back from 18 points down in Denver on Friday to get their best win of the season and advance to the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
Three takeaways
1. Not surprisingly, the Spurs have taken a step backward (ranking 18th) defensively in Wembanyama’s absence. Their weekend games in Denver and Minnesota were, statistically, their two worst defensive games of the season and their opponents have averaged 49.6 points in the paint per 48 minutes with Wembanyama off the floor, compared to just 33.0 per 48 with him on the floor.
2. But their offense ranks sixth over these last seven games, with De’Aaron Fox averaging 26.1 points and 7.1 assists. Devin Vassell went off in Denver, scoring 35 points on 12-for-17 shooting and giving the Spurs the lead for good with two straight 3-pointers (both off feeds from Luke Kornet) with less than a minute and a half to go. The Nuggets’ 136 points on 100 possessions was the most efficient performance for a losing team this season.
3. Dylan Harper returned from a 10-game absence last week and had 17 points (on 8-for-12 shooting) off the bench in Minnesota on Sunday. He and Fox (who didn’t play until after Harper was injured) played just seven minutes together over his three games back and the Spurs were outscored by four points (allowing 18 on 13 defensive possessions) in those minutes.
Coming up: The Spurs are in the middle of a stretch where they’re playing eight of nine on the road. The lone home game is against the Grizzlies on Tuesday, and they’ll be at a rest disadvantage the following night in Orlando.
Law Murray, The Athletic — 7 (last week: 9)
New face: C Luke Kornet
Victor Wembanyama hasn’t played in more than two weeks while dealing with a calf strain. That has thrust Kornet into a key role, and the Spurs are 5-2 with Kornet starting at center. There’s nothing flashy about Kornet (outside of the Kornet Kontest, of course), as he just sets good screens on offense while blocking shots on defense. That’s all San Antonio needs until Wembanyama returns.
Brett Siegel, Clutch Points — 7 (last week: 8)
Even without Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs have continued to prove that they are a top 10 team in the NBA power rankings. This group has won five of their last seven games without Wemby, and that is because of how different they operate when he’s out of the game.
The Spurs tend to spread the court more and play at a different pace when Wembanyama sits, which is a good thing since they have already built an identity without him and don’t always need to lean on him for everything. Their best win of the season was coming back from being down 18 points and winning West Group C against the Denver Nuggets on Friday with a 139-136 victory.
Coming up: Tues. 12/2 vs. Memphis Grizzlies (9-12); Wed. 12/3 at Orlando Magic (12-8); Fri. 12/5 at Cleveland Cavaliers (12-9)
Prediction: 2-1 — I doubted and got burned last week, so I’ll go with a predictable prediction (pun intended) this week. The Spurs briefly return home with a chance to show their recent home win against the injured Grizzlies was no “fluke” (it was their first since 2019, after all) before hitting the road for another four games. Like the Spurs, the Magic have been on a bit of a run without their star in Paolo Banchero, and the Cavs have disappointed so far but have been solid at home and have the personnel to get hot anytime.
