LAS VEGAS – San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama says he is “feeling great”, as he prepares to end a 12-game injury absence in the Spurs’ blockbuster NBA Cup semi-final against the mighty Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec 13 (Dec 14 morning, Singapore time).
The French phenom has been sidelined with a left calf strain since Nov 14, but the towering 21-year-old returns just in time to take on a Thunder team who at 24-1 have tied the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors for the best 25-game start to an NBA season.
“Right now, I’m feeling great,” Wembanyama told reporters in Las Vegas, where the semi-finals will be followed by the in-season tournament’s title game on Dec 16. “I’m ready to go.”
The Spurs are 9-3 since Wembanyama was sidelined, their ability to thrive without him signaling their progress after six seasons without a play-off appearance.
They are fifth in the West, just one game behind the second-placed Denver Nuggets.
But the reigning NBA champions Thunder have been all but unstoppable.
Since their lone defeat, in Portland on Nov 5, they have reeled off 16 straight victories, with NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaging 32.6 points per game this season.
The Thunder fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in last season’s Cup final, and even after their run to the NBA crown and their breathtaking start this season, Gilgeous-Alexander admitted it would be sweet to go all the way in the in-season tournament.
“It would be phenomenal,” he said. “Whenever you get a chance to play for something and win, it’s always the goal to win. We go out there with, I think, a hunter’s mentality ourselves.
“We are trying to be a better version of ourselves every night, and we like to hunt in that form.”
In the other semi-final, the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic face off in a game touted as an Eastern Conference play-off preview.
The Magic won the first two of three bruising encounters between the two teams already this season, but the Knicks triumphed in their most recent meeting.
Meanwhile in other NBA action on Dec 12, Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons thumped the Atlanta Hawks 142-115 to extend their lead on top of the Eastern Conference.
Shrugging off disappointment at missing the ongoing NBA Cup’s knockout rounds, dominant Detroit racked up their biggest points total and winning margin of the season to move to 20-5.
Elsewhere, Donte DiVincenzo buried a pair of late three-pointers, Julius Randle led the way in the absence of Anthony Edwards with 27 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves spoiled Stephen Curry’s 39-point return by defeating the Golden State Warriors 127-120. AFP, REUTERS
NBASan Antonio SpursOklahoma City Thunder