The San Antonio Spurs keep winning high-stakes games without Victor Wembanyama. Each player has doubled their payday to $106,187 if they go no further in Emirates Cup Play, and the two-way contracts get half of that. A neutral court in Las Vegas awaits them for a date with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals on Saturday as they try to pull off the upset.
Manu Ginóbili posted that he was pleased to have missed his bedtime for one of the team’s top wins of the season. They derailed the Lakers’ transition offense and were sharp in ball security and rebounding, although the stat that might catch everyone’s attention is that they had 20 fastbreak points at intermission when leading by a dozen.
Consider how it took beating two reputable teams, the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers, to secure nice paydays, and the Spurs got it done each time on the road. This is a good time for a reminder that the Spurs (8-5) are one of ten teams with an above .500 road record. Sometimes there is an anomaly, but the serious teams are usually the ones that can find continued success away from home.
These are not playoff games, but it’s as close as it gets in December to that level of environment. The Spurs are nearly acing that test with a 4-1 record in Cup play. Los Angeles had no answers to stop the transition attack or the bevy of long-range missiles hurled their way. Keldon Johnson had worn them out with 13 points in the first quarter, including 3 huge threes, and Harrison Barnes took over the second.
On top of that, things are so much easier for the Spurs when they aren’t soiling themselves in the third quarter. The Lakers have three big-time scorers, but they couldn’t offset the Spurs’ pace advantage and were showing signs of mental fatigue at the start of the second half, as Stephon Castle nailed a quick triple and sliced into the lane for two baskets to show there would be no Spurs collapse in this third quarter after giving up a combined 89 points in the last two games. Even with a 17-point lead going into the fourth, Castle’s scoring punch, and two baskets from De’Aaron Fox, never allowed the Lakers to cut the lead lower than eight, even with Marcus Smart going wild from deep.
The Spurs showed that they were more determined to win this game than the Lakers and always had an answer when they threatened to make things interesting. They are maturing before our very eyes, and it’s been enjoyable to watch after years in no-man’s land.
