OffRtg: 118.0 (7) DefRtg: 113.5 (13) NetRtg: +4.5 (10) Pace: 99.9 (26)
The Spurs are 5-2 without Victor Wembanyama, having come back from 18 points down in Denver on Friday to get their best win of the season and advance to the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
Three takeaways
1. Not surprisingly, the Spurs have taken a step backward (ranking 18th) defensively in Wembanyama’s absence. Their weekend games in Denver and Minnesota were, statistically, their two worst defensive games of the season and their opponents have averaged 49.6 points in the paint per 48 minutes with Wembanyama off the floor, compared to just 33.0 per 48 with him on the floor.
2. But their offense ranks sixth over these last seven games, with De’Aaron Fox averaging 26.1 points and 7.1 assists. Devin Vassell went off in Denver, scoring 35 points on 12-for-17 shooting and giving the Spurs the lead for good with two straight 3-pointers (both off feeds from Luke Kornet) with less than a minute and a half to go. The Nuggets’ 136 points on 100 possessions was the most efficient performance for a losing team this season.
3. Dylan Harper returned from a 10-game absence last week and had 17 points (on 8-for-12 shooting) off the bench in Minnesota on Sunday. He and Fox (who didn’t play until after Harper was injured) played just seven minutes together over his three games back and the Spurs were outscored by four points (allowing 18 on 13 defensive possessions) in those minutes.
Coming up: The Spurs are in the middle of a stretch where they’re playing eight of nine on the road. The lone home game is against the Grizzlies on Tuesday, and they’ll be at a rest disadvantage the following night in Orlando.