The Spurs overcame an early injury scare as Victor Wembanyama had to leave three minutes into the game after banging knees with Giannis Antetokounmpo. He missed the rest of the first quarter, but the rest of the team with De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Luke Kornet playing well had the Spurs still ahead in the score when Victor re-entered the game at the start of the second quarter. Vic looked a little tentative for about a minute, and then took over the game as the Spurs took a 13 point halftime lead. The third quarter was a blowout for the Spurs as they took no prisoners on a 40-16 decimation of the guys in green, leading by 37 as the fourth quarter began. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a terrific start for the Bucks as he scored 14 of their first 17 points, but was pretty much held in check after that, scoring only 7 more points.
The Spurs got great games from the entire starting lineup, and Keldon Johnson and Dylan Harper were very effective coming off the bench. It was a complete game from everyone, at least until garbage time, which was a little ugly for the Silver and Black, although no real harm was done.
The fourth quarter was garbage time, but the quality of play was definitely not garbage, as the Bucks backups played hard and made the final score a little more respectable, as the Spurs won 119-101 after the Bucks outscored the Spurs 32-13 in the final quarter, with a gift goaltending call at the final buzzer.
The next game for the Spurs is on Saturday against the Timberwolves. The Spurs are going to have to have a plan for dealing with the physical play from Julius Randle, who used his strength to neutralize Wembanyama late in the previous matchup, perhaps putting another player who can match his physical play on the defensive end. Also using more motion to cause switches might be helpful, if you’re reading this, Mitch. See you on Saturday.