OffRtg: 117.1 (10) DefRtg: 111.3 (5) NetRtg: +5.8 (6) Pace: 100.3 (23)
The Spurs doubled their loss total last week, getting torched by Stephen Curry as they got swept in a two-game series with the Warriors. But they remain in the top five in the West, picking up a win without Victor Wembanyama on Sunday.
Three takeaways
1. With Wembanyama (calf tightness) out for the first time this season, De’Aaron Fox picked up the slack, scoring 28 points and dishing out 11 assists in the Spurs’ win over the Kings on Sunday. Fox missed three big jumpers (including a step-back for the win) down the stretch of the Spurs’ loss to the Warriors two nights earlier, but he’s shot 28-for-43 (65%) in the paint and 12-for-13 at the line. Before Sunday, he had played 123 (90%) of his 136 minutes alongside Wembanyama.
2. Fox’s offense was even more necessary on Sunday, because Stephon Castle was lost to a hip injury in the first half. Castle is just 12-for-50 (24%) from 3-point range and 59-for-85 (69%) from the free throw line, but he’s playing at a high level in every other regard. In the Spurs’ win in Chicago last Monday, he had some great reads in the pick-and-roll and some wicked moves in transition.
3. Before the two-game series with Golden State, the Spurs had outscored their opponents by 14 points (allowing just 50 on 56 defensive possessions) in 27 minutes with Wembanyama and Luke Kornet on the floor together. But the double-big lineups struggled against the Warriors, getting outscored by nine points (scoring just 35 on 38 offensive possessions) as the Spurs lost the two-game series by just six points total.
Coming up: The Spurs will complete their five-game homestand with their first meetings with the Grizzlies and Hawks. A trip to Phoenix (the site of their worst defensive game of the season) is the start of a stretch where they’re playing seven of eight on the road.