OffRtg: 118.4 (4) DefRtg: 110.1 (3) NetRtg: +8.3 (2) Pace: 100.8 (12)
With the league’s longest active winning streak (eight games), the Spurs are keeping the pressure on the Thunder, who they trail by just two games in the loss column.
Three takeaways
1. Victor Wembanyama had three steals and seven blocks (in less than 27 minutes) in the Spurs’ win in Memphis on Wednesday, giving him 11 games of at least 10 steals + blocks over his three seasons in the league. The rest of the league has just five such games over those three years, with no other player having more than one.
2. Wembanyama being healthier this season is one reason why the Spurs have been the league’s most improved defensive team by a wide margin, allowing 6.2 fewer points per 100 possessions than in 2024-25. However, he’s still only played about 200 more minutes (1,725) than he did in 2024-25 (1,527), and the Spurs have been much better defensively in both his minutes on the floor (102.9 vs. 110.0 allowed per 100) versus his minutes off the floor (113.8 vs. 118.2 allowed per 100).
3. The Spurs are the only team that ranks in the top five in both opponent field goal percentage in the paint (54.4%, fourth) and opponent free throw rate (23.0 attempts per 100 shots from the field, first). Their win on Saturday was the first time in more than five years that a team (the Bucks) attempted fewer than 25 shots in the paint (they were 14-for-24) and fewer than 10 free throws (5-for-6).
Coming up: With the Spurs set to finish first or second in the West, a first-round series with the eighth-place Clippers is a distinct possibility. The Spurs have won both of the first two meetings (both in March) by exactly four points, and the final meeting will be in LA on Thursday, the second half of the Spurs’ final back-to-back.