San Antonio @ Los Angeles preview
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Last Meeting ( Jan 26, 2023 ) San Antonio 100, L.A. Clippers 138
Victor Wembanyama will take his must-see show on the road for the first time when the San Antonio Spurs face the host Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
After the Spurs lost their season opener Wednesday, they earned an overtime victory Friday over the Houston Rockets when Wembanyama scored with 20.2 seconds remaining in regulation to tie it. He also made the first basket of overtime as San Antonio finished off a 126-120 victory.
Wembanyama flashed his inside-out abilities to score 21 points with 12 rebounds in his second career game. He also blocked three shots, went 7 of 19 from the field and stayed confident until the end, even after going 0 of 6 from 3-point range.
Devin Vassell scored 25 points for the Spurs and Keldon Johnson added 20 as San Antonio rallied to tie the game after outscoring Houston 35-28 in the fourth quarter.
"I really, really love winning. It's what I love most in life," Wembanyama said. "So of course, it feels great. But coming back into the locker room, (head coach Gregg Popovich) acknowledged that it was my first ever NBA win and it just made me proud, and for a moment, proud of myself.
"Of course, it's just one win and we have a whole lot more to come and a whole lot more tough games to come so just focus on the next one. But I'm still very proud."
The No. 1 overall selection in this year's NBA Draft, Wembanyama was a bigger part of the offense Friday after scoring 15 points on nine shots from the field Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks.
Now, the 7-foot, 4-inch sensation will square off with Clippers big man Ivica Zubac, who will no doubt need help from others while on defense.
While Zubac has his hands full, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will try to power the Los Angeles attack after the team was handed its first defeat of the season 120-118 on the road against the Utah Jazz on Friday.
George scored 36 points in the defeat after he delivered 27 in a season-opening victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. Kawhi Leonard, who has dealt with knee issues the past two seasons, had 25 points and nine rebounds against the Jazz.
George gave the Clippers a 116-115 lead with 1:06 remaining before the comeback from a 10-point deficit with 10 minutes remaining fizzled. Leonard and Russell Westbrook each missed a shot in the final five seconds.
"They played like they wanted to win the game, Utah, and (we) just came out flat," said Leonard, who played 37 minutes. "We got to be better. Came in with a better third quarter (than Wednesday) but if we're going to play down, we can't be a team that's playing down all game."
The Clippers shot 53.2 percent from the field at Utah but were outrebounded 45-36 and now go up against a player in Wembanyama, who had 12 rebounds in his most recent game.
Zubac has averaged 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks over the first two games, but has averaged just 22.5 minutes, with Mason Plumlee (4.5 points, 6.0 rebounds) playing 14.5 minutes per game at center off the bench.
--Field Level Media