Rough evening for Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. The Frenchman, overwhelmed, was unable to prevent his team’s very heavy defeat on Monday on the Indiana floor (152-111). For his first “back to back” (sequence of two games over two days), Wemby suffered, finishing the game with 13 points, his second lowest total of the season, and 10 rebounds, with a pitiful 3 out of 12 on shots. .
For coach Gregg Popovich, only guard Keldon Johnson and interior Zach Collins saved the furniture. Wembanyma? “He moved well. But like I said, there are only two guys who played correctly,” “Pop” emphasized.
Successful debut for Batum with the Sixers
To see French people shine in the NBA, you had to turn to the veterans. With 14 points and 12 rebounds, Rudy Gobert largely contributed to the big performance of the Wolves, who inflicted their first defeat of the season on the Boston Celtics (114-109 after overtime). The French pivot, even if he took the poster of the night against Jaylen Brown, asserts himself as the boss of the best defense in the League since the start of the season.
Newly arrived in Philadelphia from the Clippers, Nicolas Batum has done well for his first steps with his new team. With 11 points, 2 rebounds and above all a differential of +30 during the 17 minutes he spent on the floor, the captain of the Blues contributed to the big victory of the Sixers against the Washington Wizards (146-128).
“He’s a quality player. He is valuable on both ends of the pitch, he is not selfish. He had a real impact on the victory,” underlined his coach, Nick Nurse, also happy to see a monstrous Joel Embiid inside (48 points scored without playing the 4th quarter).
Also note the nice stats sheet provided by Killian Hayes, author of 21 points and seven assists with Detroit, despite the defeat against the Golden State Warriors (109-120). The best match of the season for the 22-year-old leader, who scored points to win his team’s top five.