A blue moon flew over South Texas Tuesday night. The San Antonio Spurs managed to hold the Brooklyn Nets to a measly 98 points to earn their 14th victory of the season. That might not sound very important, but it was the first time San Antonio managed to hold an opponent below 100 points in more than two months. The last time came against the Milwaukee Bucks, who were missing their three best players, back on Nov. 11. Every team in between managed to reach triple figures -- and most of them scored a good deal more.
At roughly the halfway point of the season, San Antonio is on pace to have the worst defense in the NBA. No, actually, make that NBA history. And it's not especially close. Entering Tuesday's games, the Spurs were allowing 119.5 points per 100 possessions. The record entering this season was 116.8, set by the 2018-19 Cleveland Cavaliers. Their half-court defense, according to Cleaning the Glass, is 2.4 points per 100 plays worse than any other in the NBA. They allow 31.1 shots in the restricted area, more than any other team in the NBA, and only the Lakers allow a higher field goal percentage on mid-range shots than the Spurs' 46.2 percent. Looking for a silver lining? San Antonio is allowing the seventh-fewest 3-pointers in the league, but their opponents are hitting almost 40 percent of those looks. Some of that is opponent's shooting luck, but things aren't gonna get any easier when Jakob Poeltl is inevitably traded.
If you believe in omens, no Gregg Popovich coached team has finished in the bottom-five defensively since the 1996-97 tanker that led to the Spurs landing Tim Duncan in the following draft. That team, like this one, was the worst in the NBA defensively, and in the grand scheme of things, this is exactly how San Antonio drew it up. That's the glass half-full look. Popovich is such a good coach that he even knows how to lose better than bad teams. That doesn't make it any less jarring seeing arguably the greatest coach of all time, a man who has pulled league-average defenses out of thin air in the past, lead a defense that's struggling this much. They'd better hope they land Victor Wembanyama, because if they don't things aren't going to get any easier.
Wemby has first perfect game from 3
The 3-point shot isn't No. 1 on Wembanyama's shot rotation but his ability to shoot it from deep -- and to do so at a high level given his size -- is just an add-on that makes him the most appealing prospect since LeBron James exactly 20 years ago. This week that was perfectly represented in Mets 92's 103-94 win over Dijon as he went perfect (3 of 3) from 3-point range in a game for the first time all season.
Victor Wembanyama showed some things as a rim protector and a shooter in a win yesterday against Dijon. He wasn’t forcing his offense this game and let everything come to him. Was making a variety of different shots from the floor. Showed why he’s a threat in the pick and pop. pic.twitter.com/U4Xzeatq8T
— Global Scouting (@GlobalScouting_) January 16, 2023
Wembanyama finished with 16 points, nine boards and three blocks in a low-scoring affair. He still leads the LNB Pro A in each of those three categories as he paces towards winning the league's MVP.
Watching Wemby
There are only two more games on tap for Wembanyama and Mets 92 before the end of the month, and both can be seen for free on the NBA app. The first is on deck Wednesday afternoon with a home game versus Fos-sur-Mer. Mets 92 defeated Fos, 96-85, in their first meeting in early December where Wembanyama went for 32 points and 10 boards.
- Wednesday, Jan. 18: Boulogne-Levallois vs. Fos-sur-Mer | 2 p.m. ET
- Friday, Jan. 27: Boulogne-Levallois vs. Roanne | 2:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday's rematch against Fos-sur-Mer pits Wembanyama against former Clemson star Gabe Devoe as well as Garlon Green, the brother of long-time NBA player Gerald Green, who leads the team in scoring on the year. Green was held to five points in the first meeting and Devoe was limited to only eight points.
Race to the bottom
Each week, we'll rank the seven teams likeliest to earn the coveted No. 1 slot on lottery night. These rankings will take current record, recent performance, upcoming schedule and injuries into account to subjectively rank the NBA's worst teams.
7. Los Angeles Lakers: For now, Oklahoma City has officially escaped the bottom seven after winning five of six. The Lakers replace them after heartbreaking crunch time losses to the Mavericks and 76ers, but keep an eye on the Suns. Devin Booker may be injured, but they are 1-9 in their last 10 games. The problems extend well beyond a single player.
6. Washington Wizards: So much for the Delon Wright winning streak. When Washington's reserve guard returned at the end of December, the Wizards picked up five straight wins. We now know that was an aberration as the Wizards have now lost five of their last six.
5. Orlando Magic: The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Tuesday that the Magic are interested in Fred VanVleet. It's an interesting if slightly unorthodox idea. VanVleet, 28, is older than Orlando's entire core by several years, but he's exactly the sort of veteran who makes sense for this group. His skillset doesn't rely on usage, so he can scale his scoring up or down depending on his team's needs. A 3-and-D point guard with championship experience fits just about everywhere, but a young team that's lacking on both fronts would really maximize his talents.
4. San Antonio Spurs: We've already covered San Antonio in depth above, but for now, here's a positive: Jeremy Sochan is shooting 71.8 percent from the line since adopting a one-handed release on his attempts. He was below 46 percent prior, so the move is clearly paying dividends.
3. Detroit Pistons: Keep an eye on the Pistons, because they're nearing the point of no return when it comes to injuries. Detroit gave Isaiah Livers 39 minutes in their last loss, a surprisingly competitive 117-114 defeat at the hands of the New York Knicks.
2. Charlotte Hornets: LaMelo Ball is approaching history, or at least a watered down version of history. He is currently averaging 11 3-pointers per game, the most ever by a player not named Stephen Curry or James Harden. It's hard to blame him. Why risk your body attacking the basket for an 11-34 team? Just 15.3 percent of Ball's shots are coming within three feet of the basket this season.
1. Houston Rockets: Something meaningful is going on in Houston right now. The Rockets may have lost their last 11 games, but they've been without Kevin Porter Jr. for their last three. That has allowed much more of the offense to run through Alperen Sengun, who is averaging 20.7 points and 6.3 assists per game across that stretch. Sengun, a highly skilled offensive hub, has spent far too much of this season watching Porter and Jalen Green dribble. This stretch might give Houston's front office the push it needs to emphasize Sengun, likely the best player of the three at least right now, as more of a focal point.
Loss of the week
Nothing beats a fake comeback. The Magic got the best of both worlds on Sunday when they managed to overcome a 15-point second-half deficit against the Denver Nuggets to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. The experience of that comeback will serve them well down the line, but they won't have to carry an extra win on their record because, in the simplest terms, they don't have the MVP. Denver does. So when the Nuggets needed to start taking the upstart Magic seriously, Nikola Jokic casually stepped back and dropped the game-winner.
Still thinking about this 🃏
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 16, 2023
If you were at the game, let's see your POV 📹 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/0JMMhXhH6q
Orlando's misadventures in the clutch have frequently owned this space, and with an 8-15 clutch record along with a minus-16.3 net rating in such situations, that's hardly surprising. But every time the Magic lose a heartbreaker like this, they can take solace in knowing that if they were capable of coming so close now, with one of the NBA's youngest rosters, they'll surely be ready to break through in a year or two when this group knows how to handle late-game situations.
Games of the weak
Wednesday, Jan. 18: Hornets at Rockets: It's the Wemby Watch Super Bowl in Houston as the Eastern Conference's worst team faces off with the Western Conference's worst team.
Saturday, Jan. 21: Magic at Wizards: I'd just like to use this space to grumble about the NBA having two team names that are so thematically linked. These aren't animals. We don't need a team named after a supernatural phenomenon and another team named after wielders of that phenomenon.
Monday, Jan. 23: Hornets at Jazz: Last week, the Raptors made this section by using the Hornets as a litmus test. They took care of business against Charlotte, proving they're not quite ready to give up on the year. Now, we'll see if the reeling Jazz can do the same.
