It was a little bit of a gradual begin for the entire San Antonio Spurs however one. The Silver and Black let the Washington Wizards stick round within the first half and blew them out within the second half to safe a 119-94 victory. It was the rookie, Dylan Harper, who was constantly nice all through the sport.
Harper had a career-high 24 factors on 9-13 taking pictures, together with pulling down three triples. He added 5 rebounds and three assists. Spurs followers are attuned to Harper’s top-notch ending inside, however these days he’s begun to point out off his deep shot, too.
Harper obtained it completed in a wide range of methods on Thursday night time. He’s at all times aggressive attending to the cup, and confirmed some spectacular bounce on a number of of his finishes in opposition to the Wizards with two(ish) dunks. Essentially the most promising signal was his effectivity taking pictures from three. He’s taking pictures simply 30.2% from deep this season, but when Harper turns into a constant deep risk, his offensive recreation will open up tremendously. It looks like there’s limitless potential for the rookie to faucet into.
Harper hasn’t been the one spectacular member of the Spurs’ younger backcourt. Stephon Citadel is enjoying a few of the finest basketball of his profession proper now. The opposite half of the “Slash Brothers” had 17 factors and seven assists in opposition to the Wizards. He obtained issues began with this electrical jam within the second possession of the sport. It’s protected to say we’d like Citadel again within the dunk contest this yr.
San Antonio obtained contributions from all its guards. Devin Vassell is again to enjoying some nice ball after a short chilly stretch. He has been thriving as an off-ball shooter who takes benefit of aggressive closeouts. He had 18 factors, pulling down three deep pictures. Right here we see Kyshawn George closeout onerous, respecting Vassell’s skill to shoot the three-ball. Vassell assaults and would usually shoot a contested mid-range jumper right here. As an alternative, he will get George to chunk on the shot faux and steps by means of for a clear end.
No highlights article could be full with out a part devoted to Victor Wembanyama. He’s nonetheless enjoying on a minutes restriction, however boy, are these minutes impactful. Wemby had 15 factors, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks in simply 17 minutes in opposition to the Wizards. He began with the sleek Gervin-esque finger roll excessive of the protection.
Why not get two Spurs within the dunk contest? Wembanyama’s size and athleticism enable him to do issues above the rim that merely aren’t potential for many individuals. Wemby comes out of nowhere right here for the put-back slam. He obtained slapped within the face right here, however Sean Elliott asks if he hit his head on the rim. It wouldn’t be all that stunning if he did!
Wembanyama had some of the spectacular sequences of the sport right here. He swats the shot, dribbles the complete size of the courtroom, and slams it on Washington. What this spotlight cuts off is the truth that Wemby had one other block proper after the dunk. If he can play sufficient video games this season, his block depend could also be so excessive that they’ve to offer him the Defensive Participant of the Yr award.
San Antonio will likely be again at it once more on Friday night time in opposition to the Atlanta Hawks. Each groups will likely be within the second recreation of a back-to-back.
