The San Antonio Spurs find themselves without leading scorer Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox for the remainder of the season, and interestingly enough, their offense hasn't been the team's issue. Rather, without their Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner, the team is struggling to get stops.
Without a player as impactful defensively as Wembanyama in the lineup, it makes sense that the team would have its struggles on that end. However, it's not the absence of his league-leading 3.8 blocks-per-game that is causing opposing offenses to set records.
The Spurs lost their Friday night matchup to the Charlotte Hornets 145-134, in a game where the Hornets set a franchise record, knocking down 26 3-pointers. The team shot 56.5 percent on their 46 3-point shots.
The previous Hornets record for 3-pointers in a game was 24, which they set against the Detroit Pistons on January 5, 2022, and matched 25 days later against the Indiana Pacers.
LaMelo Ball led the way for the Hornets, knocking down seven 3-pointers en route to a 27-point, 15-assist masterclass. Nick Smith Jr. cashed in on six of his seven shots from beyond the arc, going for a career-high 26 points.
Josh Green also knocked down six 3-pointers on nine attempts from beyond the arc. Daquan Jeffries made two, and Miles Bridges contributed a pair, while Seth Curry and Marcus Garrett each knocked down one in Garrett's second-ever NBA game.
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Just a day after the announcement of De'Aaron Fox's season-ending surgery, the Spurs allowed the second-most points to an opponent of any team this season. The Hornet's 81 first-half points were the most the team has had in any half this season.
It's not like the Spurs struggled to shoot the ball either; the team shot over 50 percent from the field and knocked down 21 3s of their own at a 45.7 percent clip. The Spurs had eight players in double-figures, including the rookie Stephon Castle, who made his first start since February 3, and led the way with 26 points.
Friday night's contest marked the 42nd time the Spurs have trailed a game by double digits, and the 32nd time they've lost such a game.
The Spurs move to 27-38 with the loss, and take on the New Orleans Pelicans at home on Saturday.
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This story was originally published March 15, 2025 at 8:29 AM.