The San Antonio Spurs dropped a game they should have won to the Memphis Grizzlies, although Victor Wembanyama thinks one key trait will help them beat the Los Angeles Lakers.
After losing on the road to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, the San Antonio Spurs will return home to take on the Los Angeles Lakers in the second game of their back-to-back. The Spurs hold a one-game lead over the Lakers in the Western Conference standings, and the season series is tied at 1-1. The Spurs have to beat the Lakers if they want to remain in second place.
After missing two games with knee soreness, Wembanyama returned, scoring 30 points in Memphis off the bench. He is active and not on the injury report for the showdown against the Lakers, and he thinks the Spurs should enter the game with confidence, despite the recent loss.
Wembanyama Hints at Spurs Success vs. Lakers
The Spurs should have beaten the Grizzlies. They are a heavily-injured team that doesn't have the talent to match up with San Antonio, although the Spurs have struggled with shutting down subpar opponents all season.
Their narrow wins earlier over the putrid Brooklyn Nets and New Orleans Pelicans are indicative of that, as was their recent loss to the Utah Jazz.
However, wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, and Lakers prove that the Spurs can also elevate their play against some of the best teams in the league.
"The fact is that we played down to the level of the opponent, Wembanyama said of the loss to the Grizzlies, before turning the narrative on its head. "The good thing is we can match up with anybody and look anybody in the eyes. The bad thing is we look everybody in the eyes. Sometimes we should just put people away. I think most of the time we execute well, but we don't finish well. So, we just keep people in the game. And they're still an NBA team, so anything can happen."
The Spurs might not finish well against bad teams, but they prevent would-be better teams like the Thunder and Lakers from shutting them out. It's a two-sided coin: the Spurs can't do what they prevent good teams from doing to themselves.
With four games coming up against the Lakers, Celtics, Timberwolves, and Thunder, fans can hope that the Spurs will play to their opponents' level, no matter how strong the competition might be.