San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama didn't shoot the ball well against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The San Antonio Spurs lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday and superstar Victor Wembanyama struggled on national television.
In 32 minutes against the Lakers, Wembanyama put up 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block, but he shot only 5-of-14 from the field.
Wembanyama has 28 points on 28 shots in his last two games combined. The Spurs have lost two games in a row after starting the season 5-0.
“Personally, I haven’t seen this kind of defense from teams,” Wembanyama said. “We need to adapt as a collective, and obviously, our (offense) was bad against Phoenix as well. … We got stalled out some times. So we’re learning. We’re going to learn.
“There’s no worry, really. It feels like the game is going fast. As we got better as a team and we got better individually, as well, it’s like the opponents have stepped up in some ways defensively. I feel, in a way, that the game feels fast right now.”
Wembanyama not only shot the ball poorly against the Lakers, but he also fouled out. The Spurs lost to Luka Doncic and Co. by a final score of 118-116. They had 19 turnovers and committed 36 fouls.
On the season, Wembanyama is averaging 25.6 points, 12.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 4.1 blocks while shooting 50.8% from the field, 26.1% from 3 and 79.7% from the free-throw line. The 21-year-old is smart enough to know that he's not going to play well every night in the NBA.
“But it’s the same for everything, for life in general,” Wembanyama said. “We either respond or not respond. We’ll respond.”
The Spurs are looking to make the playoffs this season for the first time since 2019. Wembanyama's coach, Mitch Johnson, wants the two-way star to demand the ball more on offense moving forward despite his back-to-back subpar games.
“He should yell at everybody in the gym,” Johnson said. “Including his teammates and myself. He’ll be fine. We’ll be better.”
The Spurs are back in action on Friday when they host Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets. It's an NBA Cup game.