The San Antonio Spurs have been a bit of a mess this season, though things are looking up. They’re one of the worst teams in the league, but they’ve looked much better lately, as they’ve managed to churn out some competitive performances even against some of the better teams in the league.
On Wednesday night, the Spurs welcomed Oklahoma City Thunder to town, including MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Rookie of the Year frontrunner Chet Holmgren, who is competing with Victor Wembanyama for the award. Oklahoma City walked away with a dominant 140-114 win, but the Spurs showed the Thunder something interesting.
After the game, Gilgeous-Alexander spoke about the defensive looks Wembanyama and the Spurs were throwing at them in the painted area.
“Early in the game, their weak side was collapsing on like every drive,” Gilgeous-Alexander said via ESPN. “Just randomly, it wasn’t like a rotation, especially Victor. He would just come in on every drive and try to block it. I think we got caught a couple of times early in the game and then once we started not taking the bait and moving it, they were spread out and we were able to get layups later in the game.”
Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game with 32 points, six rebounds, 10 assists, two steals, and one block while shooting 9-of-15 from the field and 2-of-2 from behind the three-point line.
Meanwhile, San Antonio ended the night with seven steals and 11 blocks, with Wembanyama notching a game-high four rejections to lead the Spurs in that category.
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