LOS ANGELES — San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama will sit out Thursday night’s matchup against the LA Clippers because of right ankle injury management.
The clash against the Clippers falls on the second night of a back-to-back for San Antonio, which beat the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on Wednesday. The Frenchman racked up 41 points and 18 rebounds in 29 minutes during that game.
Earlier Thursday, Wembanyama, 22, was named the Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month for March, the third consecutive month he has won that award. In 15 games in March, Wembanyama notched 180 rebounds, an NBA-high 56 blocks and 20 steals. His 3.73 blocks per game led the league, and he also tallied 1.33 steals per game. In addition, Wembanyama had 10 games with four or more blocks and six games with two or more steals.
On the season, Wembanyama is averaging 24.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 3.1 blocks and 1.1 steals in 29.2 minutes. The blocks and rebounding averages rank first and fifth in the league, respectively.
The favorite to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year and a contender in the heated MVP race, Wembanyama technically has played in 62 games this season, including the NBA Cup final. After Thursday, he’ll have to play in three of the Spurs’ final five regular-season games to reach the 65-game threshold for postseason awards eligibility.
