The San Antonio Spurs finished 2023 as they started it: losing. The Texan team, which largely lost during the night from Sunday to Monday at home against Boston (101-134), had never in its history lost so much in 12 months, and the arrival of Victor Wembanyama did not didn’t change much about that.
The Frenchman once again performed very well (21 points in 23 minutes, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) but he is really too alone in this team. The opposition against the Boston Celtics, one of the candidates for the title, cruelly showed once again the gulf that separates the Spurs from the most brilliant teams.
“It was difficult to play against them but it was a very interesting challenge,” Victor Wembanyama said afterwards. I think we learned today. They really make few mistakes and that’s something we should learn from. » The number 1 of the last Draft did not make many mistakes: he certainly started by missing a 3-point attempt, after 30 seconds of play, but made up for it by converting the next two.
Spectacular actions
In the second quarter, he slammed a spectacular alley-oop on the head of Luke Kornet, and made his partners play a lot. Much more involved in the construction of the game, Victor Wembanyama reached halftime with 15 points and 2 assists, but above all zero rebounds and zero blocks! “Tonight it was 15 points in the first half, but tomorrow it will maybe be 10 rebounds, or 5 blocks,” he tempers. It doesn’t matter much to me. I take what comes to me, to try to help the team and make my teammates better. »
In the second half, he brought the stands to their feet by taking off several meters from the basket to place an unstoppable dunk, in front of Derrick White on his heels, stunned and unable to intervene: “I’m not an idiot, joked the Celtics player at the end of the match. I was hoping Victor would take one more dribble to try to get in on him, but he went to the basket immediately and I didn’t see him again. The only thing I could do was get out of his way. It was crazy. »
The duel with Porzingis
Victor Wembanyama was especially able to face the Latvian Kristaps Porzingis. The two players have often been compared because they are almost the same height (2.22 versus 2.21). Aged 28, Porzingis has had to face the difficulties of a slender player since his debut in the NBA. “He has obviously been very interesting for me to watch in recent years, and it’s very good to finally be able to measure myself against him,” admitted Wembanyama after the meeting. He is experienced, he knows how to use his body. »
At the end of the match, the score decided, Gregg Popovich rotated his squad and notably gave 8 minutes to the other French Spurs, Sidy Cissoko (2 rebounds, 1 interception). Starting this Tuesday, the Spurs are back in action with a trip to Memphis. With new resolutions for 2024? “I’ve never really been a big fan of New Year’s resolutions,” replies Victor Wembanyama. I have new resolutions almost every week. Even more so with our job: we have new challenges every two days. We can do so much more. » Do better in 2024 than in 2023? That’s the whole goal of Spurs.
