Spurs deliver focused win over Trail Blazers before leaving for the holidays

Eight days ago, the Spurs walked into the home of the underdog Portland Trail Blazers and it was a near disaster. Already down 4 players to injury and losing Chris Paul early to the suspension, the Spurs saw a terrible third quarter before pulling off a miraculous 17 point comeback in the fourth quarter. Then, two nights ago, they won an emotional, intense OT game against the Hawks that was exciting but also frustrating at times due to a lack of focus. Tonight they would not fall into the same traps.

The Spurs continued their goal of coming out stronger with their new and preferred starting lineup, and thanks in part to a pair of threes from Harrison Barnes and excellent defense from Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs took a 19-11 lead with 3:28 left in the first quarter when the bench units entered. In a nice change from previous games, the second unit mostly held their own, and the Spurs still led 25-20 heading into the second quarter.

After a quiet first quarter from Portland’s big names, Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe hit a pair of threes to tie things back up at 33 apiece. Both teams would then suffer an offensive break, with the score just 41-39 Spurs with 4:10 remaining, but it would be all Spurs from there. They closed the half on a 19-5 run, led by some heads-up play on both ends from Stephon Castle and closed with a pair of Wemby threes after what hadn’t been his best offensive half to match his defense, having shot just 2-9 until then.

While the Spurs have been a good third quarter team this season, the hope is that they would avoid one of their infamous antics like they had in Portland last week before making the miraculous comeback. While it wasn’t a particularly impressive quarter for the Spurs, they tread water most of the time before Wemby returned to spark another strong finish to a quarter where his shots are now falling – including the 200th three of his career – and the Spurs was up 85-68 heading into the final frame.

They finally asserted their will early in the fourth and pushed the lead past the 20-point threshold. All the starters finished with the Spurs up 101-78 with 6:45 left and the third string stepped in three minutes later to close things out. After the slow offensive first half, Wemby was on fire in the second, finishing with 30 points on 8-16 from the field (4-8 from three). Their win combined with losses to the Timberwolves and Suns moves the Spurs into a play-in position at 9th (albeit briefly). With teams 2-11 in the West all within four games of each other’s losing streak, it’s going to be the Wild Wild West from here on out, so buckle up.

Playing notes

• If anyone still hates on Sochan, I don’t know what else to say. He had another impressive game attacking the paint, rebounding and just being a general threat on the court. His stat line of 10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal and block doesn’t jump off the page, but it also doesn’t fully capture everything he brings to the court. He also does a good job of helping put the idea that he can’t share the field with Wemby. With Wemby shooting threes, he doesn’t have to, and the two of them have found good chemistry on cuts, especially with Wemby finding Sochan on plays like this.

• Once again, Charles Bassey got the nod at backup center, and unlike the Atlanta game, he played well enough to keep that spot in the second half with a double-double of 16 efficient points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Perhaps more notable is Zach Collins, who didn’t play against the Hawks when Bassey struggled (instead, Mitch Johnson went with Sochan at backup center in the second half) and was the lone DNP tonight despite the Spurs emptying the bench with over three minutes remaining. . Are they just taking their time with the back after a nasty fall forced him to miss a few games, or is there more going on behind the scenes (like trade talk)? It will be an interesting situation to continue to monitor.
• With his first block of the game, Wemby passed David Robinson for a franchise record 62 consecutive games with a block, and it’s hard to imagine that streak ending anytime soon. He currently leads the league with 3.5 blocks per game. match and he probably increased that number one tick tonight by 10 more blocks to stay just the sixth player in NBA history to have a 30-point, 10-block game. (Unfortunately, there was no triple-double, as he “only” grabbed 7 rebounds.) And for good measure, he also added an offensive milestone, becoming the 15th-fastest player to reach 200 career three-pointers. Note that he advanced faster than Steph Curry, James Harden and Ray Allen. Mind blowing.

Play the game

Speaking of the Wemby three, that’s why he added them to his arsenal. Once players respect it, lanes like this open up:

Next: Monday at the Philadelphia 76ers

The Spurs head east for their first extended road trip of the season, starting with the struggling 76ers. Will Wemby be ready to get revenge on a banked Joel Embiid after he dropped 70 on them last season? Tune in to find out!