Victor Vembanyama lacks sleep and energy… but Spurs are making up for it

The second complicated match in a row at the offensive level for Victor Vembanyama. Against the Pistons, the French All-Star certainly finished with 21 points, but on 6/16 shooting, pushed by Detroit’s rough defense.

Against the Raptors, he was satisfied with 12 points, 3/12 shooting including 1/6 from distance and seemed to be running out of juice…

“I didn’t really recover tonight”, he admitted. “With all the weather changes between Los Angeles and here, and my late arrival from Detroit, I wasn’t focused today. I need to stick to my schedule and sleep better. I couldn’t sleep last night. Yeah, I wasn’t in good shape today.”

Facing the Pistons and then the Raptors, two of the top six defenses in the NBA, was no gift for the low-energy Wemby, who was unable to find good offensive positions.

Toronto thus consistently shut down his racket, sending help from the Frenchman’s first dribble to stop him.

“That’s what they do. If they don’t want you to score, they won’t let you score.”summed up the Frenchman, who was unsuccessfully trying to find a rhythm at 3 points and at middle distance. For his coach, Mitch Johnson, that’s one of the Raptors’ strengths. “a very physical team who know how to apply pressure”.

Enough talent to compensate

“They do a great job of pushing you to pick up the pace and generally punishing you if you go one-on-one.”describes the coach. “They are very good on the ball and get close to you.”

The good news for San Antonio is that even with Victor Vembanyama on his knees, he still got the job done defensively, and the team is thick enough to compensate on the other side of the court.

Result: 10th win in a row for the Spurs, who haven’t had such a series in ten years!

“We know, and I think it’s pretty obvious this year, that we have a strong team.”concludes De’Aaron Fox. “Some of our players missed games, but we still managed to stay afloat and win. I don’t think it’s a surprise that when someone has a bad night, even someone of Victor’s caliber, we have enough resources to overcome it.”

How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.