The San Antonio Spurs are 0-2 to start their NBA season, losing to the Houston Rockets 114-110 on Friday night. Victor Wembanyama bounced back from his lowly 1-for-13 shooting night in the opener, finishing with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks.
Still, though, his offensive effort wasn’t as efficient as fans might be used to. While De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, and Stephon Castle are finding a degree of success sharing the floor, it limits the Spurs’ depth and also forces Wembanyama to the perimeter, since the Spurs need to clear space for their slashers.
All of that, though, is secondary to the “effort problem.” In the opener against the OKC Thunder, it was clear that the Spurs simply did not want it as much as their opponents did. Against the Rockets, the desire and competitive fire were both there; it was the execution that was lacking.
The Spurs know that they have no shortage of talent. Wembanyama, though, knows that the Spurs need to work on closing.
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Spurs ‘Blow Away’ Any Chances of Comebacks
Early in the second quarter, the Spurs allowed Houston to amass an 11-point lead. By halftime, though, the Spurs were only down by two. From there, Houston once again built a double-digit lead only for the Spurs to chip away. In the end, though, the effort was too little, too late.
“I think we showed a better face,” Wemby said of the effort against Houston compared to the game against OKC. “Other than that, we made some mistakes that were very costly. This is our problem. We work hard, we work hard for a time, and then we blow away what we have.”
Last season, and even more in Wemby’s second year, that was a trend for the Spurs. They’d allow their opponents to jump out to early leads, crawl back, and then run out of time or energy. Playing 40-plus minutes while behind is taxing, after all.
The simple solution is to not allow opponents to build early leads, which is why the Spurs are expected to come out swinging against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
“We will show our message on the court,” promised Wembanyama.
Of course, there is a lot of overreaction to be had. Most diehard fans expected the Spurs to start the year 2-0, or at least 1-1. Being winless thus far was unthinkable, but it’s so early in the season, it’s impossible to draw any real conclusions.
“I hope they stay around for the next 80 [games], it’s a long season,” Mitch Johnson told the fans.
The Spurs are still very much title contenders. There’s a lot of basketball to be played. No one on the roster is panicking. They just know that it’s time to get to work.
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