San Antonio vs. Sacramento, Last Rating: Wembanyama shines in 116-96 win

After shedding a tricky recreation towards the Utah Jazz over the weekend, the San Antonio Spurs seemed to begin the brand new week off on the precise foot. With the Sacramento Kings reeling on the second recreation of a back-to-back, the Spurs capitalized for a dominant 116-96 victory.

Victor Wembanyama had one among his finest video games of the season with 34 factors, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, and three blocks. He was a deterrent all night time within the paint, bothering shot after shot and inflicting the Kings to “nope” proper out of pictures on the rim. Offensively he was on hearth, capturing 13-22 from the sphere and 6-12 from deep.

Wembanyama’s defensive effort was infectious. San Antonio’s protection smothered Sacramento, because the Kings shot 42.9% from the sphere and 27% from deep. The Spurs turned the ball over 18 occasions, permitting the Kings to attain 26 factors off their errors, however they made up for it with a scorching capturing night time. San Antonio shot 50.6% from the sphere and 47.8% from three.

The Spurs will face a pair of French phenoms in Bilal Coulibaly and Alex Sarr when the Washington Wizards come to city on Wednesday the thirteenth.

Observations

Stephon Citadel is wanting increasingly snug with the NBA by the day. On Monday he had 10 factors, 6 assists, and a steal. He appears sturdy and assured attending to the basket and is beginning to hit sufficient threes to make the protection respect him from on the market. His poise as a rookie shouldn’t shock anybody who watched him at UCONN final season however continues to be fairly uncommon for a first-year participant.
Wembanyama has made 6 three-pointers in his final two video games. He’s typically capturing the ball higher in San Antonio than on the highway. Wemby is capturing 47.3% from the sphere and 37.5% from deep at house, whereas capturing 38% from the sphere and 20.5% from three on the highway.
Devin Vassell appears to be on a minutes restriction. He was subbed out late within the fourth quarter after taking part in 21 minutes, the identical quantity he performed in his debut towards Utah. Vassell had a scorching stretch within the third quarter that propelled him to 12 factors, together with three deep balls.
Sandro Mamukelashvili has supplied a spark and a few capturing off the bench. He had 9 factors, all from deep, in his 16 minutes. He held his personal defensively with some well timed rotations and some good isolation possessions towards the Kings’ wings.
Julian Champagnie performed his a hundredth recreation for the Spurs on Monday. He now has essentially the most three-pointers in his first 100 video games, with 159, of any undrafted participant in Spurs historical past. Gary Neal beforehand held the document with 153.
Chris Paul completed with 12 factors and 11 assists within the win. It’s his 4th points-assists double-double on the age of 39 or older. John Stockton has the document with 37 such video games.