The Spurs are showing no signs of slowing down as the regular season nears its end. They went into Miami and dominated en route to an easy 136-111 win, their sixth victory in a row. Victor Wembanyama impacted the game on both ends in a way that few players have this season to help put the slumping Heat away early, finishing with an impressive stat line that somehow doesn’t represent how great his performance was.
Before the Spurs ran away with it, there was an entertaining opening quarter, in which both teams seemed to be sticking to their plan. Wembanyama walled off the paint, leading the Heat to rely on jumpers and their normal breakneck pace to avoid half-court offense, while the Spurs tried to get into the paint by using Wemby’s gravity to open up shots near the rim or open threes. The intensity was there from two squads that are known for playing hard. The differences were made at the edges. San Antonio dominated the glass, which helped them survive a zone defense that baffled them at times, and Miami got points in transition. It was a close, physical, occasionally sloppy but always entertaining first 12 minutes that ended with the Silver and Black up eight.
After that, the Spurs completely took over. While Wembanyama had a huge impact in the first quarter, mostly by deterring and changing shots and making the defense focus on him while his teammates feasted, he didn’t get the stats to show for it. It changed to start the second, as he blocked a couple of shots that allowed the Silver and Black to push the pace, finished a couple of dunks, and found Carter Bryant for an alley-oop dunk. Miami did its best to stick around, but the lead reached double digits, and there was no counter run. The Spurs did well to survive the minutes without Wembanyama and Fox on the floor, as the second unit vastly outplayed the Heat’s subs, and once Wemby returned, San Antonio found itself up 20 points. It was an impressive effort against a well-coached team that tried different lineup approaches to no avail.
The 18-point lead the Spurs had heading into the break was a nice buffer, but a slow start on offense opened the window for Miami to get back into it. The problem for the home team is that they had no way of scoring on an active San Antonio defense that had Wembanyama contesting everything close to him, and his teammates flying around to close out on jumpers. The Heat started the second half missing their first nine shots, the Silver and Black got their offense back on track, and the lead got to 30 midway through the third. The second unit wasn’t as good as it had been early, but it still found ways to get enough stops and buckets to prevent a run. The difference between the two teams was as big on Monday as the box score showed, as the visitors headed into the fourth up 27 and looking like they had an extra gear they could access if needed.
The Heat just didn’t have it in them to even attempt a fake comeback, which is understandable considering their recent struggles and San Antonio’s relentless play even while up big. There were some strange and sloppy moments in garbage time, mostly because Wembanyama seemed to be looking for new ways to torture Miami, but the Spurs largely took care of business, making sure the win was secured before emptying the bench.
Some Wembanyama plays are demoralizing. Myron Gardner here runs back, reads that the alley-oop is coming, gets to Wemby to try to at least foul him and make him miss, but still ends up in a poster. Brutal.
Next game: at Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday
The three-game road trip continues with a visit to the Grizzlies, currently on a three-game losing streak and already thinking about next season. If the Spurs play with the appropriate fear, the win streak should reach seven.