San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Blown lead leaves Wemby wishing he had done more
Victor Wembanyama put up big numbers again, but that didn’t stop the Spurs’ rookie star from leaving Frost Bank Center feeling he could have done more.
Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with 28 points, including a 7-foot jump hook with 1.2 seconds left that provided the winning points, as injury-depleted Memphis nipped the Spurs 99-97 on Friday.
The Spurs (15-55) had a chance to win it, but Wembanyama’s 30-foot contested jumper coming out of a timeout fell short at the buzzer.
The Grizzlies (24-47) overcame a 17-point, second-quarter deficit for their 13th win in a row over the Spurs.
Wembanyama had 31 points and 16 rebounds for his 37th double-double. He also had three blocks and two steals in 33 minutes.
But it wasn’t enough to prevent the Spurs from falling to 10-18 when leading by double digits.
“I remember having a thought in the first half, like when we were up by a lot, I didn’t put the nail in the coffin,” Wembanyama said.
The Grizzlies won the second period 25-14 to get back into it. The 14 points tied the Spurs’ season low for the fewest points in a quarter.
“Teams with the worst records, teams with the best records go up 15, 20 and lose leads,” Popovich said. “It happens in the NBA all the time.”
But point guard Tre Jones said the Spurs suffered a letdown.
“It’s something we’ve struggled with all year when we get a lead, especially a big one like we had tonight,” he said. “It was just maintaining the lead, just continuing the aggression, our hunger,
everything that got us the lead.”
The Spurs pulled within 97-94 on Devin Vassell’s corner 3 with 24.6 seconds left. They tied it with 18.8 seconds remaining on a 3 from the corner by Jones after Jeremy Sochan intercepted Scottie Pippen Jr.’s inbounds pass, but Jackson answered with his winning shot out of a timeout.
Despite the late 3s by Vassell and Jones, the Spurs shot just 18.4% (7of-38) from beyond the arc, with Wembanyama making just 3-of-12. They also committed 16 turnovers, leading to 20 points for Memphis.
“If you hold a team to 99, you should win a lot of games,” Popovich said. “But if you give up 20 points on turnovers and shoot 18%, it’s going to make it tough on you.”
Vassell finished with 27 points. Jones added 16 points.
The Grizzlies played without Ja Morant (shoulder surgery) and several other injured key players.
“When a team comes in like that as injured as they were and we let them outwork us, it’s definitely a tough one,” Jones said.
Zach Collins returned for the Spurs after missing a game in concussion protocol. He had four points and three rebounds in 15 minutes before fouling out in the fourth.
Beating Memphis could have helped the Spurs acquire Toronto’s first-round pick in 2024.
The Raptors traded the top six-protected pick to the Spurs for Jakob Poeltl at last season’s trade deadline. Top-six protected means the Spurs own it as long as it doesn’t fall in the top six.
With Friday’s win, Memphis jumped over Toronto, which fell to 2347 with a loss to Oklahoma City.