2023-11-18 06:21:00
Victor Wembanyama had a full game (27 points, 9 rebounds) but could not prevent the seventh consecutive defeat of the San Antonio Spurs against Sacramento (129-120) Friday in the NBA. Crushed Tuesday by Oklahoma City (123-87), the French prodigy only scored 8 points. Vengeful, it took him 4 minutes on Friday to reach this total by attacking the match with his feet on the ground.
But the Spurs never managed to create a lasting gap in a close match (62 all at half-time, 95-94 for the visitors after the 3rd quarter), before being subjected to the law of the Kings, more solid at the end of the match.
There are sacrifices to make
The Californians relied in particular on their leader De’Aaron Fox, untenable with 43 points (14 out of 24), and on the Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis (27 points, 14 rebounds). Well supported by pivot Zach Collins (28 points, 8 rebounds), Wembanyama distinguished himself with a nice one-handed “alley-oop” while suffering a foul, but missed his end of the match between missed shots and ” walk” whistled as Spurs began to let go.
Above all, the French giant displays an ugly differential of -31 (his team “lost” by a cumulative 31 points during his 30 minutes on the floor). “There are sacrifices to make, we know it, it’s hard to be patient, it’s a daily battle,” commented Wembanyama. “As long as we stay motivated, focused and with a clear mind, we’ll be fine.” Coach Gregg Popovich “appreciated the efforts”. “It’s super frustrating to lose, but you have to know how to keep perspective to understand. With time we will reduce our mistakes, that should lead us to some victories.”
Still deprived of two major players (Tre Jones and Devin Vassell) due to injury, the Spurs are paying for their youth and the lack of depth in their squad and are sinking in the standings (3 wins – 9 losses, penultimate in the Western Conference) .
The match also counted for the group stage of the new mid-season tournament, and the Texans are guaranteed not to reach the quarter-finals, which Sacramento is approaching (2 victories in 2 matches).
Boston still in the lead in the east
To the east, Charlotte, corrected by Milwaukee (130-99) recorded the return of its winger Miles Bridges (17 points in 33 minutes), who finished serving a 30-match suspension for violence against his ex-partner in 2022. Bridges was again charged with violence and violating a restraining order in October.
The reigning champion Denver was beaten to the wire by New Orleans (115-110) despite a spectacular triple-double from its Serbian pivot Nikola Jokic (26 points, 16 rebounds, 18 assists). Boston contained the Toronto Raptors (108-105) to maintain the lead in the Eastern Conference (10 wins – 2 losses).
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