Victor Wembanyama looked like a Most Valuable Player candidate and his San Antonio Spurs appeared unstoppable through the first five games of the season.
A bit of a reality check arrived on Sunday.
Wembanyama had a rare off night in San Antonio’s 130-118 loss to the Phoenix Suns, finishing with nine points on four-of-14 shooting. He also had nine rebounds and six turnovers.
Photo: Allan Henry-Imagn Images
It was the first time he was held to fewer than 10 points since Oct. 30, 2024, when he had six against Oklahoma City.
“They were expecting everything that we did,” Wembanyama said. “That makes everything hard for us.”
The 21-year-old Wembanyama never looked comfortable against a physical Suns defense, struggling to get clean catches in the paint. The third-year center went into the game averaging 30.2 points and 14.6 rebounds per game.
First-year Suns coach Jordan Ott said the goal against Wembanyama was to try to force him to catch the ball in places on the court where it is hard to do damage. For the most part, it worked.
“I know our next opponents watched this game tonight and they’ll take some things away from it,” Wembanyama said. “The preparation starts now.”
The Spurs trailed by as many as 31 points in the third quarter. The Suns shot 19 of 33 (57.6 percent) from three-point range.
“I give a ton of credit to Phoenix,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I think they imposed their will on the game. They were physical, they were competitive and set a tone from the jump in a variety of ways. Their physicality with our players was definitely part of that.”
Second-year guard Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting.
He said the Spurs have to do a better job of getting to their spots more quickly to give Wembanyama a better view of the court.
“We’ve got to give him more space where he can see where the double teams are coming from,” Castle said. “We’ve watched film on this, we’ve just got to do better.”
“I feel like we kind of needed this, he added. “I feel like we were starting to get a little comfortable. This is kind of a wake-up call for us. I’ll be happy to see how we respond on Wednesday.”
The Spurs play at the Los Angeles Lakers tomorrow.
Wembanyama played just 46 games last season due to a life-threatening health scare. He had surgery in March to clear up a blood clot in his right shoulder.
His return to the court had been nearly flawless until Sunday.
The Spurs look as if they will be facing more adversity in the near future. Rookie guard Dylan Harper — the No. 2 overall pick who averaged 14.4 points over the first five games — left Sunday’s loss with a calf injury.
“I hope the best for him, for sure,” Wembanyama said. “We’ve seen great things from him, it’s actually been hard to believe, how good he’s played, but it happens, we have to be able to deal with injuries.”
Elsewhere, the Knicks bullied the Bulls 128-116, the 76ers thrashed the Nets 129-105, the Raptors mauled the Grizzlies 117-104, the Thunder trounced the Pelicans 137-106, the Hornets silenced the Jazz 126-103, the Cavaliers downed the Hawks 117-109 and the Lakers overcame the Heat 130-120.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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