Wemby Watch: Spurs Beat Lakers, Losing Streak Ends at 18

Story of The Game

The losing streak is finally over.

The Lakers came into San Antonio thinking they could get away with a 1-and-1 rest game for Lebron and then Anthony Davis, but their greed ended up costing them a valuable W.

In this second edition of the two game home stand vs. the Lakers, the Spurs built up a nice lead in the second quarter, saw most of the lead melt away, but then applied more force until the Lakers were out of avenues for a comeback.

Devin Vassell recorded a career high of 36 points on 12–19 shooting, including 5–10 from three to ensure the Silver & Black broke into the win column.

Victor Stats

13 points, 5 assists, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks in 31 minutes

5–13 fgs, 1–2 3 fgs

Quick Thoughts

Although the Spurs recorded a much needed win, the Spurs still barely mustered “B” grade basketball.

The biggest positive was very impressive: the Spurs only had 8 turnovers for a game.

Just taking care of the ball immediately put the Spurs in position for a win, and Vassell’s career night edged them to a cushioned victory.

But we still saw a familiar theme: Victor’s teammates played selfishly and/or with tunnel vision which, again, resulted in the best player on the team fading into the background for several possessions.

Malaki Branham, Keldon Johnson, and Cedi Osman all had their moments, but the worst offender was Keldon Johnson.

Keldon is certaintly worthy of a “blackhole” designation because when he gets the ball, it is very unlikely it’s going anywhere else.

If Keldon can’t buck his ballhog ways, he needs to go.

I’d prefer it if he was able to quickly transform himself into a willing passer because he fits a super sub role very well: he’s a very talented role player who can turn into a star, at times, and create instant offense.

But to his detriment, he plays with only his offense in mind. If he played completely open to passing, it would take his game up levels.

Victor showed more glimpses of amazing, but never really did make his mark on this game.

He delivered some nice passes, had a few highlight buckets, and continued to be a gigantic defensive force — even disrupting a Lebron drive.

But his teammates weren’t looking for him and he was playing too unselfishly.

Harking back to what Channing Frye remarked in the previous Lakers game, Victor needs to stop looking to defer so much and assert himself more.

One other flaw I noticed surface in this game is Victor hurrying his shot and/or shooting more of an awkward shot than is necessary.

Sometimes it looks like he’s concerned about the contest but he needs to figure out that very few people will bother him if he goes up vertically/strong with his shot (vs. contorting sideways).

Pre-Game Setup

The Lakers-Spurs matchup is game #24 for the Spurs.

Betting: Lakers -7.5, Over/Under 234.5

(Guess-Prediction: I’ll take the Spurs and the over.)

Betting Record going into the game 9–10–1.

The Lakers travel to San Antonio for this contest.