Victor Wembanyama's worrisome knee injury update for Thunder-Spurs NBA Cup clash
11/18/2024 03:25 PM
The San Antonio Spurs already played without Victor Wembanyama during Saturday’s 110-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. It looks like San Antonio could be without their 20-year-old center again in the Spurs’ upcoming NBA Cup game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. Wembanyama is listed as doubtful to play on the Spurs’ injury report with a right knee contusion.
Less than a week ago, Wembanyama reached a small career milestone: he scored 50 points for the first time in his career. In a 139-130 win over the Washington Wizards, the 7-foot-3 star shot 18-of-29 from the floor, including 8-for-16 from three-point range and added six rebounds, one steal and three blocks.
An earlier report from interim head coach Mitch Johnson explained that Wemby’s injury status was “day to day.”
Spurs taking step forward in Western Conference
It’s still too early to speculate, but the Spurs do look better than last season. Granted, improving upon a 22-60 record isn’t hard to do. But at their current pace, San Antonio projects to win 35 games. That still likely isn’t good enough to put them into the playoffs or even a play-in game, but it’s a modest step in the right direction.
This 2024-25 season will surely test this team’s mettle. Head coach Gregg Popovich is still sidelined with a mild stroke. The 75-year-old handed off the reins to interim head coach Mitch Johnson. Coach Pop delivered a message to coach Johnson and the team in his absence, per NBA insider Shams Charania.
"One message that Gregg Popovich has delivered in recent days to Mitch Johnson, the interim head coach, and other executives within the Spurs organization is, 'Don’t worry about me. Focus on the task at hand here in San Antonio and that’s to win and try to compete. And when I’m back, I’ll be back. Don’t worry about me,’" Charania reported.
Popovich is out indefinitely as he continues to recover.
The Spurs are also blessed with Chris Paul running the point, the closest thing a team can have to a player-coach. Paul recently became the third player in NBA history to eclipse 12,000 career assists, joining John Stockton and Jason Kidd.
Devin Vassell, the Spurs’ starting shooting guard, shared the lessened pressure and advantages of having a player like Paul on the court this season.
“I feel like that was the missing piece to where if teams go on a run, if it's not going our way, maybe we'd kinda separate a little bit. He's been the main piece to keep it all together, so he's been huge for us.”
The Spurs start a three-game stretch at home on Tuesday with upcoming games against the Thunder, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors.
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