Amid disappointment, Spurs return to 'sanctuary'
San Antonio controls the night in a 120-109 win over Phoenix, as the loss of Wembanyama weighs heavily.
AUSTIN — The stamp of approval was waiting on their phones when the Spurs walked into the postgame locker room, a reminder from Victor Wembanyama following the team’s 120-109 victory over the Suns that he’s still around despite his physical absence in the arena.
“That was the first text message after the game. ‘Great win,’” Keldon Johnson said. “We can't wait to have him back here smiling.”
It was indeed a great win. Even if it had come during your run-of-the-mill TNT game, on a night in Austin that featured all the stars healthy and able, it would’ve been a hell of a victory for a team in desperate need of one. But on a day like the one San Antonio had just experienced, there was no greater cure.
Wembanyama was diagnosed Thursday with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder after the team said he felt discomfort following his return home from All-Star weekend in San Francisco. While San Antonio says it expects a full recovery, and for its franchise cornerstone to be ready to go by the start of next season, he will be shut down for the rest of the current campaign so he can receive the proper treatment.
And you could feel that sense of loss like a cloud in the room. From Keldon Johnson, to Mitch Johnson, and everyone else in between, there was palpable emotion and concern for not only Wembanyama the player, but for the person they’ve all come to love like a brother. And still, they turned to the basketball court — their “sanctuary,” as Mitch Johnson called it — where all other worldly problems are forgotten for at least 48 minutes.
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Phoenix might not be anywhere close to the team its payroll says it should be, but Kevin Durant is still Kevin Durant, and Devin Booker is still Devin Booker — two elite scorers who can kill a wounded animal like San Antonio on any given night even as the team around them struggles. On Thursday, however, the Spurs’ blend of size and athleticism on the perimeter turned up the pressure without its all-world defensive backdrop in place.
Jeremy Sochan gave Durant a headache, allowing the latter only three field-goal attempts in 28.2 partial possessions of individual matchup time, per NBA tracking analysis. As for Booker, he got the Stephon Castle-De’Aaron Fox-Devin Vassell treatment, and went 0-for-6 from the floor in the 48.2 partial possessions during which at least one of those three players guarded him.
On the glass, where San Antonio had recently been getting kicked in the teeth, it was the guards who picked up the slack in Wembanyama’s absence. Castle and Fox combined for 19 rebounds, and nobody in the nine-man rotation finished with fewer than two on the evening as the Spurs won the battle of the boards for the first time in what feels like eons.
Offensively, it was the point guards who became the true motors. Fox and Chris Paul combined for 17 assists, and the former continued to show why San Antonio decided to just pull the trigger at the deadline and acquire him. Even as a new Spur, Fox could be a godsend for a team that, despite losing its superstar for the final stretch of the season, is still chasing a Play-In spot. The Suns’ cadre of guards could not find an answer for his isolations, to the point where those within earshot could hear Durant pleading to Phoenix coach Mike Budenholzer to find someone, or do something, to defend Fox.
“Everything that we've been through this year, all the things that have happened, when you're on the court, it just becomes a game,” Mitch Johnson said. “And whether that's focusing on the game plan and having to execute, it’s the same game that these guys loved playing up as a kid.
“It's their sanctuary, or getaway, or whatever you want to call it. But you could feel tonight they just put their energy in the game and they got rewarded for it.”
Even without Wembanyama in the fold, there is potential for this San Antonio group to remain both competitive and plenty entertaining. With Fox elevated as The Guy, Paul continuing to steer the offense, the ongoing Castle evolution and revolution, the return to a bigger role for Sochan, and a hopeful resurgence for the duo of Keldon and Devin Vassell, this may not be the inevitable end it seems. The Spurs’ grasp on that postseason range is tenuous, but they’ve still got a thread of rope in hand.
But while all this may be true, and even if you’ve got the most flowery of outlooks for the rest of the season and this team’s development moving forward, that cloud in the room still remains. It will be there once again on Friday, in the arenas for the rest of the Rodeo Road Trip, and in the Frost Bank Center once the team returns home. There is nobody who can replicate what a healthy Wembanyama gives you on the floor, and it’ll take a group effort to replace his enthusiasm in the locker room during his time away.
San Antonio has been dealing with this all season, though. From the very beginning, really. First, it was Vassell having to undergo surgery he’d hoped he’d avoided early in the summer; then, it was Gregg Popovich suffering a mild stroke in early November, which has kept him off the bench ever since; and without going through all the ups and downs, it’s been multiple injuries to Sochan, strings of disappointing losses following a promising start to the year, the trades of Tre Jones and Zach Collins (two very well-liked guys in that locker room), and now … this.
“All these guys have experienced some adversity this year. I’m not going into too much depth, but we've had a very unique year in a lot of ways, and the guys just — they keep coming back,” Mitch Johnson said. “We've lost some tough games, lost some games at the end. There's been some things that we wish we could have had back, and maybe that would've changed some games, and we come back at All-Star break, and the circumstances under this game, and they showed what they've shown again and again.
“It's not surprising, but it's very nice to see. They all get credit for that.”
There may not be a storybook ending this season — we all understand the reality of the situation — but there’s a real future for which to play. Neither the long-term goals nor the work that’s expected in order to reach them has changed, and the NBA stops for nothing. The players know this, too. Despite the bad news, and even as the mood is dampened, the determination to achieve bigger things hasn’t seemed to waver. They miss their guy, but the resolve appears steely.
As for Victor, this, too, shall pass. Both he and the team feel a great deal of confidence it will.
“It is tough to deal with initially, but as weeks and months go past, you just kind of deal with the normal and understand what you're getting yourself into, and just be patient. You can't get back on the court, so being upset about, it's not going to do much for you,” said Durant, who’s dealt with season-ending injury before. “So get in tune with yourself a little bit more, and maybe go find some new Legos to put together, read a couple new books, and then when it's time to get back on the court to start working out and stuff, lock in.
“It's tough mentally, not playing the game. But when you understand what's ahead and focus on each and every day, it'll make it a little easier.”
There's nothing really keeping Wemby from being around the team (other than the frustration of not being able to suit up and get on the court). He could certainly be on the bench and in the locker room to provide support - maybe wait until the initial phase of his thinners is done to be really safe (you often take a higher dosage the first couple of weeks to get things started).