Victor Wembanyama has now missed the last 10 games, and the Spurs continue to survive (7-3) without both him and Stephon Castle (who’s missed the last nine games). It has been a tough schedule of late, with six of the Spurs’ last seven games on the road and six of the last eight against teams currently over .500.
Three takeaways
1. Luke Kornet has started in Wembanyama’s place and preserved the Spurs’ win in Orlando on Wednesday by blocking Franz Wagner at the buzzer. Opponents have shot 37-for-87 (42.5%) at the rim when Kornet has been there, the best rim protection mark among 145 players who’ve defended at least 50 shots at the rim. But he missed the Spurs’ loss in Cleveland on Friday, when the Cavs scored 62 points in the restricted area, 14 more than they’ve scored in any other game.
2. With the win in Orlando, the Spurs are 10-3 (with four straight wins) in games that were within five points in the last five minutes and have the league’s second-ranked clutch offense. De’Aaron Fox scored their last 11 points against Memphis on Tuesday after first creating the corner 3-pointer that Keldon Johnson drained to put the Spurs ahead with a little more than three minutes to go.
3. The Spurs have suffered on the glass (on both ends of the floor) without Wembanyama. They rank 24th in total rebounding percentage (48.2%) over his absence, down from fourth (53.4%) over the 12 games that he was in uniform.
Coming up: The Spurs will finish their pre-Cup schedule in New Orleans on Monday before flying to L.A. for the NBA Cup quarterfinals two nights later. One of their three clutch losses came at Crypto.com Arena in early November.