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On Wednesday, the San Antonio Spurs lost a thriller of a Christmas Day game on the road to the New York Knicks. The story of this one was the duel between Spurs second year sensation Victor Wembanyama and Knicks recent trade acquisition Mikal Bridges, both of whom eclipsed the 40-point mark in the back and forth affair.
Wembanyama has been on an absolute tear as of late after a (relatively) slow start to the season. In fact, over the last four games, Wembanyama is leading the NBA in points (35 per game), blocks (6.5 per game), and three pointers made (5.8 per game), to go along with 10 rebounds and better than 50 percent shooting from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc (per StatMuse on X, formerly Twitter).
The incredible statistic is just further proof of the highly unique skillset that Wembanyama brings to the court every night, a skillset that was on full display during the Spurs' first Christmas game in several years on Wednesday.
Throughout the afternoon, the Knicks were powerless to stop Wembanyama's barrage of three pointers and finishes around the basket, and he was also a major deterrent for New York around the rim on defense.
Can the Spurs compete this year?
The loss to the Knicks dropped the Spurs' record on the 2024 season to an even 15-15, good for eleventh place in the vaunted Western Conference playoff picture. Still, considering the team won just 22 games in the entirety of the 2023-24 season, a .500 record 30 games into this year has to feel like a major win for San Antonio.
The team's acquisition of Chris Paul this past offseason has done wonders for Victor Wembanyama's development, and other veterans like Harrison Barnes have also chipped in to help turn the Spurs' fortunes around this year.
It's unlikely at this point that the Spurs will be ready to compete with teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder or the Dallas Mavericks at any point this year; however, Wembanyama has already staked a claim for being a top ten player in the NBA, and it's certainly possible that the front office could be motivated to cash in some of its assets and push all of its chips to the center of the table sooner rather than later.
In any case, the Spurs will stay in New York on Thursday and next hit the floor on Friday night on the road vs the Brooklyn Nets at 7:30 PM ET.
