Spurs deliver focused win over Trail Blazers before heading out for the holidays

Today at 11:53 PM

Wemby continued to make history as the Spurs cruised to a comfortable victory

Eight days ago, the Spurs went into the home of the inferior Portland Trail Blazers, and it was nearly a disaster. Already down 4 players to injury and losing Chris Paul early to ejection, a horrible third quarter saw the Spurs in dire straights before they pulled off a miraculous 17-point comeback in the fourth quarter. Then, two nights ago, they won an emotional, intense OT game against the Hawks that was exciting but also frustrating at times due to a lack of focus. Tonight, they weren't going to fall into the same traps.

The Spurs continued their goal of getting out to stronger starts with their new and preferred starting lineup, and in part thanks to a couple of threes from Harrison Barnes and stellar rim defense from Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs found themselves up 19-11 with 3:28 left in the first quarter when the bench units came in. In a nice change from past games, the second unit mostly held their own, and the Spurs still led 25-20 heading into the second quarter.

After a quiet first quarter from Portland's big names, Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe hit a few threes to tie things back up at 33 apiece. Both teams would then suffer an offensive lull, with the score sitting at just 41-39 Spurs with 4:10 left, but it would be all Spurs from there. They closed the half on a 19-5 run, spearheading by some heads-up play from on both ends from Stephon Castle and capped by a couple of Wemby threes after what had not been his greatest offensive half to match his defense, having shot just 2-9 up until that point.

While the Spurs have been a good third quarter team this season, the hope is they would avoid one of their infamous turd quarters like they had in Portland last week before making the miraculous comeback. While it wasn't a particularly impressive quarter for the Spurs, they treaded water most of the time before Wemby returned to spark another strong finish to a quarter with his shots now falling — including the 200th three of his career — and the Spurs were up 85-68 heading into the final frame.

They finally inserted their will for good early in the fourth, getting the lead past the 20-point threshold. All the starters were done with the Spurs up 101-78 with 6:45 left, and the third string entered three minutes later to close things out. After the slow offensive first half, Wemby was on fire in the second, finishing with 30 points on 8-16 from the field (4-8 from three). Their win combined with losses for the Timberwolves and Suns move the Spurs into a play-in position at 9th place (however briefly). With teams 2-11 in the West all within four games in the loss column of each other, it's going to be the wild wild West from here on out, so buckle up.

Game Notes

• If anyone is still hating on Sochan, I don't know what else to say. He had another impressive game attacking the paint, rebounding, and just being an overall menace on the court. His stat line of 10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal and block doesn't jump off the page, but it also doesn't fully capture everything he brings to the court. He's also doing a good job of helping put to bed the notion that he can't share the court with Wemby. With Wemby shooting threes, he doesn't have to, and the two of them have found good chemistry on cuts, especially with Wemby finding Sochan on plays like this.

• Once again, Charles Bassey got the nod at backup center, and unlike the Atlanta game, he played well enough to keep that spot in the second half with a double-double of 16 efficient points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Perhaps more noteworthy is Zach Collins, who did not play against the Hawks when Bassey struggled (instead, Mitch Johnson went with Sochan at backup center in the second half) and was the only DNP tonight despite the Spurs emptying the bench with over three minutes left. Are they just taking their time with his back after a nasty fall forced him to miss a few games, or is there more going behind the scenes (such as trade talk)? It will be an interesting situation to continue monitoring.
• With his first block of the game, Wemby passed David Robinson for a franchise-record 62 straight games with a block, and it's hard to imagine that streak ending any time soon. He currently leads the league with 3.5 blocks per game, and he probably upped that number a tic tonight with 10 more blocks to become just the sixth player in NBA history to have a 30-point, 10-block game. (Unfortunately, there was no triple-double since he "only" grabbed 7 rebounds.) And just for good measure, he added an offensive milestone as well, becoming the 15th fastest player to reach 200 career three-pointers. Of, note he got there faster than Steph Curry, James Harden, and Ray Allen. Mind blowing.

Play of the Game

Speaking of Wemby threes, this is why he added them to his arsenal. Once players have to respect it, then driving lanes like this open up:

Up next: Monday at Philadelphia 76ers

The Spurs are headed out East for their first extended road trip of the season, beginning with the struggling 76ers. Will Wemby be ready to get revenge on a banged up Joel Embiid after he dropped 70 on them last season? Tune in to find out!