Following the NBA's announcement that the contest between the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers will be postponed, Victor Wembanyama and his teammates have a little more time to regroup since a rough loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Over the previous two weeks, a trend had developed for the Spurs in that every one of their losses had come because they were unable to finish games in which they had built or taken fourth quarter leads.

That wasn't the issue in Milwaukee on Wednesday.

“I don't think it was specific,” Wemby said. “I think it was all-around.”

San Antonio found themselves down by 19 at the half before ending up on the wrong side of a 121-105 outcome.

“They were better than us. They were better basketball players,” Wembanyama continued. “We have to step up and we have to respect that.”

Spurs taste first blowout in a while

One has to go back to mid-December for the last time the Silver and Black had lost a game that wasn't close. While it may not seem like a long stretch, it's noteworthy considering they were on the short end of many lopsided ball games just a year ago on their way to a 22-60 record. In that sense, the Bucks turned the calendar back on the Spurs.

“I think their physicality got to us,” acting head coach Mitch Johnson said. “Even early, I think we made of a few shots just to kind of hang around in that first quarter, but our offense was slow.”

The Spurs had developed a flow during a stretch that saw them win five games, including a victory vs. the Denver Nuggets, and take several other good teams (including Denver) down to the wire. It was on that side of the ball that Milwaukee, though they had three guys score more than 20 points, proved more problematic for Johnson's squad.

“We weren't getting catches in the spot that we wanted to get catches. Our timing was off and their physicality dictated a lot of that or our lack of it, whatever lens you want to look at it through,” the 38-year-old coach added.

Spurs-Bucks matchup a far cry from last time

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The two teams met a little more than a year ago in San Antonio. That night Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in 44 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out seven assists. Wembanyama scored 27, several on highlight worthy plays, pulled down nine rebounds of his own and blocked five shots, including a late dunk attempt by Antetokounmpo. The Spurs fell just short that January 4th night in a 125-121 thriller.

“I think they're a more complete team now. They look better,” Wemby said about this season's first meeting between the two.

“They've been looking fantastic since last year at the beginning of the season. We got better too. They took us seriously for sure.”

San Antonio was without Jeremy Sochan, their best on-ball defender, in Milwaukee. It's a point the reigning Rookie of the Year pointed out.

“Jeremy helps a lot when guarding them. He was there last January.”

Another difference: The Greek Freak put up 25 and 16 on Wednesday while the Spurs leading scorer for the season put in just ten. Stands to reason as to why Wembanyama called the Bucks better this go round.