It appears the San Antonio Spurs don't mind seeing the Portland Trail Blazers on their schedule. Jeremy Sochan scored a game-high 31 points in a 116-100 victory Friday that may have also marked the end of Victor Wembanyama's minutes restriction. The Spurs have now beaten the Blazers twice in three meetings this season with their only loss coming by six points in a game Wemby did not play.
The Silver and Black's ninth win of the season broke a two-game losing streak that included a stretch in which they'd won only one of their previous seven games.
Jeremy Sochan bounces back
In falling two points shy of the career high he set on January 30 in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Spurs' Sochan responded to one of his worst games with one of his best.
The second-year pro managed just two points on 1-of-7 shooting, including misses on all three of his three-point attempts on Wednesday. His lack of scoring proved a factor in the 140-114 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who share the top record in the west.
ClutchPoints asked the former Baylor Bear if his effort Friday night proved especially sweet because of what happened vs. OKC.
“I think as a team we didn’t play our best against [Oklahoma City], so coming out strong; and we had a couple of ups and downs, but overall, I feel like we played with pace, we played together, and that’s all that matters. And defense, and we got the win. So, hopefully we can bring that tomorrow and for every other game,” Sochan responded.
The forward-turned-point guard-turned-forward again also grabbed 14 rebounds and recorded a couple of steals vs. Portland. A constant member of the Spurs starting line-up, Sochan played well at his natural position during a rookie year that saw him qualify for the NBA's Rising Stars Game on All-Star Weekend. A little more than a month into the point guard experiment this season, he transitioned back to power forward.
Victor Wembanyama's restriction may be ending
The Spurs leading scorer added 23 points Friday night. Victor Wembanyama played 29 minutes in yet another sign that restrictions in place since late December may be coming to an end. Perhaps the biggest indicator, though, is the chance that the top overall pick in this past June's draft may play on Saturday night. The playing time limitations included not suiting up in both games on consecutive nights.
Head Coach Gregg Popovich says he would know more about Wembanyama's status for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday morning but added that he'll assume his star rookie will be considered probable.
ClutchPoints posed the question to Wemby. How much input will he try to have when the Spurs training staff meets with Popovich regarding his status?
“I'm confident I'm going to play except if there's a problem, which there's not going to be. I'm probably going to play,” the 20-year-old phenom responded.
The Spurs have been cautious with their 7-foot-four big man since he dealt with right ankle soreness in mid-December and then aggravated it on December 23 in that pregame incident when he stepped on a Dallas Mavericks ball boy's foot.
Before the injury, the French phenom was averaging approximately 31 minutes per game and would play both nights of back-to-backs.
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