LOS ANGELES – Spurs center Victor Wimpanyama expressed confidence in slowing down a game that “seems fast right now” after the Lakers became the second straight opponent to stop him during San Antonio’s 118-116 loss on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.
“Personally, I have not seen this kind of defense from teams,” Wembanyama said. “So we need to adapt as a team. In the Phoenix game, that was also the case. We stumbled at times. We are learning.”
Three days after the Suns handed the Spurs their first loss of the season, putting Wimbanyama to his second career game with fewer than 10 points (9) and at least 5 turnovers (6), the Lakers limited the Frenchman to 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting with 5 turnovers. Wimpanyama fouled out with 1:40 to play in a game in which two other Spurs players, Harrison Barnes and Jeremy Sochan, left after committing six fouls in the final 90 seconds.
With 0.2 seconds left, Julian Champagne (14 points) missed the first of two potential free throws to tie the game, then intentionally missed the second to give San Antonio one last chance to deadlock the contest, but Keldon Johnson’s attempt fell short.
The Suns smothered Wembanyama with double teams on Sunday, pushing him away from his spots on the floor while preventing deep touches in the paint. The Lakers used a similar strategy on Wednesday with the same result.
“Mostly, it was double,” he said. “They were ready. They were probably taking punts in all the situations we faced because it seemed like they were so ready. I felt like they let me catch the ball, but they were willing to double-turn after that.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Wimpanyama will be “fine” as they look to get him back on the offensive track.
“We need to get the ball to him in better places,” Johnson said. “We need to get to the starting spots early.” “He has to be more visible and demand the ball. When he doesn’t do that, he has to yell at everyone in the gym, including his teammates and me, and he will be fine.”
Despite the struggles, Wimpanyama led San Antonio in scoring as every Spurs starter contributed at least 14 points while the reserves went 14-15 in outscoring the Lakers’ bench 38-21. The Spurs led by as many as 12 points with 1:26 left to play in the third quarter.
After suffering foul trouble, Wembanyama scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half, eight of which came from the free throw line. The 21-year-old committed three turnovers in the fourth quarter as the Lakers outscored the Spurs 30-20 in the final frame. The Spurs’ starting five were 1-for-12 shooting in the fourth quarter.
“We had a tough second half,” goalkeeper Stephon Castle said. “We had a lead. We fumbled and let them get back into the game with some free throws. Vic can get back on track. He’s working hard. He’s got the right mentality. He’s got it, and he’s going to figure it out.”
Wimbanyama agreed, saying one of his first thoughts after a loss was to bury himself in film study in preparation for the next opponent.
“There’s really nothing to worry about,” Wimbanyama said. “Because we’ve improved as a team and we’ve improved individually as well, it feels like the opposition has stepped up in some ways defensively. I feel like in a way the game feels fast now. We’ll keep up with that, of course.”
“…It feels like teams are too prepared from previous defensive schemes to go into games against us. When we’re on the field, we need to go up against those type of defenses. This will make us much better, very quickly.”
