The start to the 2025-26 NBA season has been must-watch TV. Two of the teams that have garnered the most attention are the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs. Tonight, they will go head-to-head in a highly anticipated matchup. Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has been dominant through his first six games. However, NBA analyst Brian Windhorst believes the Lakers will take a page out of the Phoenix Suns’ playbook in hopes of containing the Frenchman.
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For a good stretch, the Spurs were among the final teams to remain undefeated. That would change as the Suns would hand them their first loss. A big reason Phoenix was able to come away with a victory was due to their defensive game plan against Wembanyama.
Wemby entered that game averaging 30.2 points, 14.6 rebounds, and 4.8 blocks per game. Although the Suns don’t excel in the talent department, head coach Kevin Ollie devised a plan that caused serious havoc against the 7-foot-5 big man. Wemby would finish the game with only 9 points and 9 rebounds on 29% shooting from the field.
Of course, bad games will happen. However, Brian Windhorst took more away from the Suns’ defense rather than Wemby’s struggles.
“The Suns used an interesting defense in that game,” Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective. “[Wembanyama’s] initial defender was Royce O’Neal. If there was off-ball screening, like if they were trying to create a matchup for Victor, the Suns let the screen happen, and they just switched. What they didn’t want was Victor to make an easy catch. They wanted to fight Victor on the catch.”
Unlike the Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, or Dallas Mavericks, the Suns don’t have a big man who can hold their own defensively against Wembanyama. As a result, they had to think outside the box, which they did. Their constant pressure on Wembanyama proved to be successful and may be the key for other teams to have a chance against him.
There’s only a one-game sample size featuring Wemby against this sort of defense. But for teams lacking in size, this may be the route they can take, especially JJ Redick and the Lakers.
“The Suns did do something that I wouldn’t be surprised to see teams, especially teams that are smaller, and the Lakers are a smaller team,” Windhorst said. “I’m sure JJ Redick and the Lakers watch that film. Whether or not they do it for the full time that the Suns prepared is yet to be seen. But I would suspect they take some things and throw Victor some of those looks.”
One of the major reasons this style of defense has been successful has to do with Wembanyama’s frame. To begin the season, one of the biggest takeaways has been his improved strength. However, he is not on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s level just yet. This is only his third year in the league.
Tim McMahon believes this may be a persistent issue until Wemby rectifies that area of his game.
“He’s catching it uncomfortably above the elbow or outside of the paint, and then there’s an immediate double team. Whereas, he’s not catching it with a deep seal, where he can just turn around and go finish. That’s something that’s probably going to be years of work in the weight room down the road. For him to say, ‘You want to put a little guy on me? I’m going to get exactly where I want to go,'” McMahon said.
Well, the Spurs have had two full days since their loss against the Suns. Wemby and the coaching staff most likely have dissected film in hopes of finding a way for him to be effective against similar defensive coverages. The only way to find out if he has the answer is by watching the Lakers take on the Spurs on ESPN at 10 PM ET.
