Spurs' Victor Wembanyama reveals who's to blame for overtime loss to Nuggets
01/05/2025 11:35 AM
The San Antonio Spurs and the Denver Nuggets split their home-and-home on back-to-back nights this weekend, which feels right considering the way that both games went down. First, the Spurs upset the Nuggets on Friday night in Denver with a frantic comeback and some questionable late-game decisions by the Nuggets. Denver got its revenge on Saturday night in San Antonio in an overtime thriller.
Following Saturday’s 122-111 loss in the extra period, Spurs star Victor Wembanyama pointed the finger at himself for where the team fell short in the disappointing loss.
"If I needed the ball more, it's on me. … I should have done a better job at being more assertive and catching the ball."
Wemby takes blame for last night's OT loss to the Nuggets despite a 20-point/23-rebound game
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“If I needed the ball more, it’s on me because it’s, especially playing against teams like that back-to-back, we beat them over there, we always go back and forth,” Wembanyama said. “The scouting, the coverages, the defenses. I should’ve done a better job of being more assertive and catching the ball.”
Wembanyama and the Spurs dud a good job to stay with a feisty Nuggets team on Saturday night before Devin Vassell sent the game to overtime by rebounding his own miss and tipping it in. However, Nikola Jokic took over in the overtime period to give the Nuggets the win and get a split in the two-game stretch against the Spurs.
Victor Wembanyama-Nikola Jokic becoming one of the NBA’s best matchups
All NBA fans get up when stars are facing off against each other, and there are plenty of fun matchups that we get to see across the league throughout the season. At this point, none of them stack up to Stephen Curry vs. LeBron James, but a relatively new one is becoming one of the league’s best in a hurry.
Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic have gone at it in a heavyweight fight seemingly every time that they have matched up against each other since Wembanyama entered the league in one of the most entertaining one-on-one battles in the league. The two have consistently brought their best against each other and have already played a handful of tight battles with one another.
During this quick home-and-home, the two stars absolutely balled out. In the Spurs’ 113-110 win in Denver on Friday night, Jokic did everything he could to get the win for his team with 41 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists. However, Wembanyama one-upped him with a 35-point, 18-rebound double-double.
On Saturday night, Jokic flipped the script even though both players had huge games once again. Wembanyama had a monster night on the glass with 20 points and 23 rebounds while blocking four shots on the defensive end, but it wasn’t enough to stop the scoring machine on the other side. Jokic finished that one with 46 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. The big man dominated the overtime period on both ends of the floor to ensure that his team didn’t start an unwanted losing streak.
Wembanyama and Jokic will have many more battles over the years, and the early returns on this budding rivalry are enthralling. Every time the two face off, it will be must-see hoops moving forward.
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