Without Victor Wembanyama, Spurs aim to beat Blazers again
FILE PHOTO: Dec 28, 2023; Portland, Oregon, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) high-fives teammates during introductions before a game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center./Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo
The San Antonio Spurs will have to battle without rookie star Victor Wembanyama when they look to sweep a back-to-back, two-game series against the host Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.
The Spurs (5-25) and the Trail Blazers (8-22) own the two worst records in the Western Conference.
Wembanyama padded the stat line with 30 points, six rebounds, six assists and seven blocks as he led San Antonio to a 118-105 win over the Trail Blazers on Thursday. But the Spurs announced prior to the two-game trip to Portland that Wembanyama would skip the Friday contest as he continues to work back to full strength after sustaining a right ankle injury.
On Thursday, the Spurs led 38-14 after a dominant first quarter, built a 28-point edge early in the second quarter and never let Portland closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Devin Vassell added 17 points for San Antonio, with Jeremy Sochan scoring 16, Malaki Branham hitting for 13 and Zach Collins contributing 11. Vassell dished out seven of the Spurs’ 33 assists.
“Things happen in an NBA game. There (are) gonna be momentum swings, but we were resilient,” Sochan said. “We wanted this one really badly, you know, starting from (Wednesday) when we got here, so it feels good to win.”
Next up, the Spurs will attempt to produce just their third win in 13 December games. San Antonio snapped a five-game overall losing streak and an 11-game road skid, posting its first road victory since Nov. 2 in Phoenix.
“The most important part is staying together and being able to communicate,” Sochan said. “At times at the start of the season when we went through these rough patches, we kind of go toward an individual way, and now it’s more staying together, making the right plays, making the right reads on defense, too, and just being together.”
Jerami Grant led Portland with 29 points and 10 rebounds, while Malcolm Brogdon also had 29 points and Scoot Henderson added 25. The Trail Blazers have dropped three of their past four games and 10 of their past 12.
The Trail Blazers were without Deandre Ayton (knee), Anfernee Simons (illness), Shaedon Sharpe (thigh) and Duop Reath (back) on Thursday. Those four players will be game-time decisions to play in the Friday rematch.
The Trail Blazers, who are next to last in the NBA in scoring, were ill-equipped to mount a comeback of such dire proportions, especially short-handed.
The Thursday game was the first regular-season meeting between Wembanyama and Henderson, the first and third picks in the 2023 NBA Draft. Round 1 went to the French teenager, but the next battle will have to wait until the teams meet again on Jan. 26 in San Antonio.
“Trying to get Rookie of the Year, that’s still my goal,” Henderson told CBS Sports. “That’s still up in the air, I think.”
Henderson hit just 8 of 23 field-goal attempts, collecting 12 of his points on 4-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter after the game was essentially out of reach.
–Field Level Media