San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama is fully aware of his burgeoning place in the NBA. He savors his team's rise to near the very top of the league standings. And following what essentially served as a buzzer-beater against the Phoenix Suns, he made it very clear that he thinks none of it is possible without his Spurs teammates.
“We've got De'Aaron Fox, former Clutch Player of the Year, so that's a big component of it,” Wemby said of his young team's success in close games. “We've got talented guys all around. We can put five offensively talented guys on the court at any point of the game, so it matters a lot. The fact that we don't have experience can be on our side.”
From 22 wins two years ago to 34 last season, San Antonio has not only clinched a playoff spot but is already one of the league's best teams despite their youth.
“It's not a meaningless game. I should say it's a meaningful game, close to the playoffs, so it's a good test right now,” Wembanayama said of the 101-100 win vs. Phoenix.
“The good thing is I can feel that we've built habits and that's on both sides of the floor, defense especially. We've get to do things without even thinking about it that much anymore, and we know each other, and we can anticipate. And it looks like this on film, too. Doesn't mean, by no means that our game was perfect. Far from that, I think it was actually below average, but it's a good test, especially at this moment in the year.”
Victor Wembanyama details his buzzer-beater vs. the Suns
Wembanyama's jumper with 1.1 seconds left proved as nuanced as it was impressive.
“It was hard to take in all the stimulus around me,” Wembanyama admitted. “I had the fans looking at me. This guy spilled wine on me, and that was before the end of the game, by the way. I made the shot, I sprang back on defense and kind of hit a guy, and I've got wine on my shorts now. There was a lot going on. I didn't see all my teammates come up in a second. It felt like I was getting mobbed.”
The short itself, though, didn't catch Wemby off guard.
“It's a shot I worked on. It's all things,” Wembanyama said. “Our game plan is not inventing things, so it's all things we've been working on. This shot, especially, is a shot I've been working on with (assistant coach) Tim Martin, so it's not something new.”
The Spurs trailed most of the way vs. Phoenix. Wembanyama did his best to make sure they wouldn't trail again after his last-second attempt.
“In this situation, you want to wait,” the two-time All-Star said of his approach on that final Spurs offensive possession. “If you take the shot too early, whether you make it or miss it, you're shooting yourself in the foot 'cause the defense will probably get the rebound and have some time or inbound and have some time. So, you want to shoot it as close to one or two seconds. This way we have a chance to get an offensive rebound in case if we miss, and in case we make it, they don't have time.”
Devin Booker's half-court heave missed at the buzzer, delivering the Spurs their 52nd win through 70 games.
