The San Antonio Spurs held a 15-point lead going into the half-time break at United Airlines Center. Their advantage ballooned to as much as 19 during the third quarter, but owing to some poor decision-making and lackluster defense, Victor Wembanyama & Co. squandered their lead to end up with a road game loss (110-114).
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Zach Lavine poured in 14 fourth-quarter points to fight back and Coby White hit a clutch floater to give Chicago their first lead of the night. Wemby ended the night with 23 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 blocks, but was understandably frustrated after his team took their foot off the gas in the most crucial stage of the game.
“I don’t think there was one area where we were really, really bad. I mean, of course, we had turnovers but it was mix of things,” the sophomore center said after the loss in Chicago. “But that should be compensated by the effort, you know. Effort and the attention to details.”
Wemby had a game-high five turnovers himself and was lacking decisiveness on the offensive end. On numerous plays, he looked to move the ball instead of taking his shots. His timid play was reflected on the box score as the 21-year-old ended the night with just two free throw attempts.
The Spurs tallied 17 turnovers, compared to the Bulls’ 13. While it isn’t a big difference, San Antonio became loose with the ball at the wrong time, helping the fast-paced Bulls offense generate easy points in transition. Instead of playing aggressive with the lead, the Spurs inadvertently fell into complacency.
“I mean, yeah it’s very frustrating. For sure, right now we should have more wins, but we don’t deserve more wins, you know, because this is where we’re at right now. This is our level, you know, our maturity. And this one is a tough one, for sure. But apparently, we need those to grow,” Wembanyama added during the post-game press conference.
"Not taking things for granted, respecting what we call the basketball gods, doing the right things and being smart," – Victor Wembanyama on loss v Bulls
Here's Wembanyama post game v Bulls…#porvida📷 #nba #sanantonio #gospursgo pic.twitter.com/nIVmIbHHgq
— JeffGSpursKENS5 (@JeffGSpursZone) January 7, 2025
While the team might be lacking it, Wemby’s answer certainly exuded maturity. As a young superstar, he has a chip on his shoulder to prove the hype that has followed him over the past few years. However, it’s important for him to recognize that he can only be as good as his team.
Both the Frenchman and his team have been inconsistent throughout the season and the growing pains are clear. On some nights, the Spurs look like a capable young team, but there are also games like these where their inexperience is hard to ignore.
Therefore, Wemby wants to respect the basketball gods instead of being impatient after every loss.
However, the Spurs do have big expectations this season. Nearly halfway through the campaign, they sit at .500 as the 10th seed in the Western Conference. Chris Paul, in particular, does not want to see his team squander an opportunity to make it to the postseason.
“There’s no time like the present. Everybody not guaranteed to be here next year…Win and learn at the same time, that’s the best way to do it,” the 39-year-old commented after the loss.
“We got to figure out where we get that grit from…We got a group of very good guys, you know what I mean? But in order to win these games, you gotta- it’s just a different mentality, a switch that we gotta find and we gotta flip.”
Despite the obvious talent on their roster, San Antonio has struggled to build an offensive identity — particularly in the absence of their head coach. They’ve put up good wins against contenders like OKC, Denver, Houston and Minnesota, but now is the time when they need to find that cohesiveness and string together a good run of games.
