Wembanyama shines as slide continues
Victor Wembanyama lobbed a pass high enough and soft enough — in other words, perfectly — for teammate Sandro Mamukelashvili to record an easy alley-oop slam.
It was one of the star rookie’s many impressive plays Saturday against Memphis.
But the Spurs wasted Wembanyama’s 19-point, 13-rebound, eight-block outing by suffering yet another meltdown.
The shorthanded Grizzlies overcame a 19-point, second-quarter deficit to down the reeling Spurs 120-108 before a sellout crowd of 18,354 at the Frost Bank Center.
The Spurs (3-10) followed a familiar script in losing their eighth in a row. They are 1-6 this season when leading by 10 points and 1-4 when ahead by 15.
“Well, we’ve been there before,” said coach Gregg Popovich, whose team has led four different opponents by 22, 19, 17 and 19 points during this skid.
Memphis (3-9) outscored the Spurs 18-0 during a 5⁄ -minute stretch in the fourth quarter to lead 111-99 with just under 5 minutes left. The Grizzlies (3-9) won the final frame 33-14 after beginning it with a 24-5 run.
“We just have trouble sustaining,” Popovich said. “We get those periods where the physicality builds and we go dry offensively. And if you don’t score and you’re in transition defense all the time, it makes it difficult and the leads dissipate.”
“Maybe we are panicking a little bit,” Cedi Osman, who had 13 points off the bench, said of the Spurs’ inability to sustain big leads.
Wembanyama’s eight blocks were his season high and the most by a Spur since Tim Duncan had nine in January 2007. Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez is the only other player in the league with eight blocks in a game this season.
Keldon Johnson led the Spurs with 22 points. Zach Collins and Jeremy Sochan each had 16.
Jaren Jackson Jr. paced the Grizzlies with 27 points, including 12 in the fourth, on the strength of an 11-of-12 outing from the free-throw line. Memphis attempted 36 free throws, a season high for a Spurs’ opponent, hitting 29 of them.
Desmond Bane finished with 26 points, which was without All-star Ja Morant (league suspension) and several other top players nursing injuries.
Latest collapse upsets players
Wembanyama is confident the Spurs will stay unified even as the losses mount.
The team hasn’t won since Nov. 2, when it held on to defeat Phoenix after nearly blowing a 27-point lead.
“We have very healthy locker room, healthy relations between each other,” Wembanyama said. “We’re losing together. If someone puts their head down, we go help him. Someone falls on the court, all of us rush to help him up.”
Still, Osman said “everybody is really upset” after the latest collapse.
“We need to keep our heads up,” the seventhyear forward said. “It’s tough times for us, but we’re a young group who really wants to win and will respond.”
Vassell’s playing status uncertain
The Spurs played without injured guard Devin Vassell for a second straight game. He’s missed four of the last eight contests after hurting his groin on Nov. 2 against the Suns.
Popovich said he doesn’t know whether Vassell will need an extended period off to heal. The Spurs host the Clippers (4-7) Monday.
Reserve point guard Tre Jones (hamstring) returned Saturday after missing three games. In 22 minutes, he had two points and three assists.
“It was just something small,” Jones said of his injury. “It’s a long season, so we wanted to take care of it now so it doesn’t cause more problems.”