Facing an inexperienced San Antonio Spurs team that was on the second night of a back-to-back, the Indiana Pacers were heavy favorites to take home the victory. However, the Pacers didn't just come out with a win, they did so in emphatic fashion, defeating Victor Wembanyama and company in an out-and-out demolition that ended in a 152-111 scoreline.

Just to rub more salt into the Spurs' open wounds, the Pacers also managed to defend Wembanyama in a way that no other team has to this point. Wembanyama, the 7'4 freak of nature who possesses a must be seen to be believed 8'0 wingspan, can get any shot he wants at any time by simply shooting over the top of any mere mortal who dares raise an arm to contest. However, the Pacers brought him back down to earth with a few monstrous defensive stops, including a block from third-string center Isaiah Jackson.

Spinning baseline against the 6'5 Aaron Nesmith, it seemed as though Victor Wembanyama had an easy two points at the rim. But Jackson met him at the rim; he swatted the Spurs rookie's shot off the glass, leading to a transition triple from Buddy Hield.

This was exactly the Pacers' plan to try and stop Victor Wembanyama from having his way. Head coach Rick Carlisle, who's celebrating his 900th career win at the head coaching helm, wanted the likes of Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith to make the Spurs rookie work as hard as they can make him, with rim protectors Myles Turner, Jalen Smith, and Isaiah Jackson taking on weak-side help duties.

“We just want to keep force in the game on him,” Carlisle said, per Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “Both vertical force with running and horizontal force to not allow his center of gravity to get by us. If he gets by you, he's just going to put his whole arm in the rim on a dunk. I haven't seen anything like it. No one has.”

Even Obi Toppin was a bit surprised when reporters after the game pointed out how disruptive he was defensively.

“I was playing good defense? Man, I appreciate it,” Toppin said. “He's definitely tall, but being physical with him, that's the only thing you can do.”

Perhaps this is the blueprint other teams would deploy against the Spurs moving forward, with the Pacers coming up with the answer on how to slow down Victor Wembanyama's rapid ascent.