San Antonio vs. New Orleans, Final Score: Spurs defeat Pelicans 121-116

Despite a litany of first-half setbacks for a handful of Spurs rotation players, Victor Wembanyama closed the game on a personal 7-0 run, helping San Antonio win the game against an undermanned Pelicans team. Despite looking like he had a shoulder injury in the first quarter, rookie Stephon Castle carried the team in the second half and helped hold off the Pelicans – extending the losing streak to 11 of 12. While several Spurs faltered or recovered in the locker room, that played The team played its best basketball in a week with a score of 43-28 in the second quarter and took control of what could have been a brutal defeat.

Observations

• Paul (12,092) passed Jason Kidd (12,091) to take second place on the all-time assist leaderboard with an inbound pass directly to Wembanyama for three. Paul is averaging more assists this season (8.5) than he did in his first season in 05-06 (7.8)! The first two dimes tonight were a nifty handoff to Johnson for a floater, and the second was a skip pass to Harrison Barnes for a corner three. So. much. Point. God. Diversity.
• New Orleans has the most diverse selection of athletic big men east of Dallas.
• The City jerseys look like you accidentally washed your white clothes with this baby blue school sweatshirt.
• It may have gone unnoticed by many that Castle had ball-handling duties for much of the third and fourth quarters while Paul took a break.
• Course of the game #1: In the second quarter, Johnson grabbed the ball during a New Orleans fast break and sent it wide to Bassey, who executed an emphatic dunk/1 combination.
• Course of the game #2: After Wembanyama inhaled Murray’s layup attempt, Vassell fed Wembanyama at the top of the key for a smooth one-legged three-pointer. Jacob Tobey responded with “He’s a cheat code!”
• Course of the game #3: Late in the first half, after Paul found an angry Sochan for a high-flying slam, Barnes then found Vassell, who charged down the right side and scored another transition dunk to cap an 8-0 run.
• Area 51 warning: Midway through the third period, Castle hit a back-the-back dunk to Wembanyama at the rim for a beautiful dunk.
• Wembanyama scored in the first 20 seconds and saved an attempt from Yves Missi two minutes later. 30 seconds later, he weakly held himself up, holding his lower back. Collins spun backwards for a layup as McCollum took over the New Orleans offense, but then lunged to block a shot down the middle of the court and was eliminated from the game. Missi converted several bunnies and freebies to help the Pelicans get an early lead. Murray did “Dejounte” moves by getting to his spots and being annoying at the other end. The Pelicans finished the first game 34-28.
• Castle and Johnson cut the Spurs’ deficit to three early in the second half. As Bassey saved an attempt from McCollum, Castle dislocated his shoulder and crashed into Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Wembanyama came back into action, to our relief and delight, but Johnson limped off the ground after four minutes. The Pelicans continued to fire down the nets to stay safely ahead. Barnes made his second three-pointer and Wembanyama’s layup brought the Spurs within two minutes. McCollum knocked Jeremy Sochan out of the air, which infuriated him. A few moments later, Paul found Sochan running down the lane for a transition dunk. Paul’s three-pointer brought the Spurs to 11 points, and after Castle returned, he scored a floater. San Antonio went into halftime with a nine-point lead after a heated stretch.
• New Orleans went on an 8-2 run to start the third period. Paul was pulled up after Herb Jones hit a pull-up jumper. After a few questionable shot attempts, Wembanyama fended off Missi and fired a shot from the left block into the goal. Castle grabbed a 50/50 ball and threw a no-look one-hander to Wembanyama for a rim-climbing slam. The teams remained within 2-3 possessions of each other for the remainder of the third period. A four-point effort from Barnes allowed San Antonio to advance to the fourth round.
• A confident Castle added a layup and hit a three-pointer before the shot clock to increase the Spurs’ lead to ten. The Pelicans cut that in half after a sloppy execution in San Antonio. San Antonio ran a textbook-perfect 3-on-1 fast break to put New Orleans ahead by 11. Murphy III’s moonball three-pointer made it a five-point game and kicked Wembanyama in the thigh, resulting in a shooting foul. Missi stole an errant Castle pass and scored 1-1 to bring the Pelicans within two points. Castle’s next bad pass resulted in a turnover, and Murray’s jumper tied the game.
• McCollum’s layup punctuated the 11-0 run and put New Orleans back in the lead by two points. A foul originally called on Murray during a Julian Champagnie drive was challenged and overturned. Paul fed Wembanyama for a straight three, while Murray and Missi missed two easy attacks.

Game overview

Although Wembanyama and Castle left the court to train in the training room (and, more importantly, returned), San Antonio received balanced results from Wembanyama (25 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks), Castle (22 points, 5 assists and 4). rebounds) and important contributions from the rest of the team. Charles Bassey saved a disastrous result tonight with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks off the bench. Harrison Barnes quietly scored 16 points while Devin Vassell had a rare shot on the night. Unfortunately, Collins and Johnson did not return this evening either.

New Orleans, which was without its two leading scorers – Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram – got double-digit scores from all of its starters. Trey Murphy III (25 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists) and CJ McCollum (19 points and 5 assists) stood out, while Brandon Boston (13 points and 3 rebounds) shined off the bench. Rookie Yves Missi (18 points and 14 rebounds) impressed and was unimpressed by Wembanyama and Bassey.

San Antonio lost its two best centers, Wembanyama and Collins, within four minutes of each other in an unfortunate first quarter and fell behind a New Orleans squad that was also missing many rotation players. The quartet of Murphy III, Missi, McCollum and Murray did some serious damage on the field and at the line, outscoring San Antonio by a point. Charles Bassey salvaged a brutal quarter by scoring seven points and a block, and the Spurs only allowed six points.

Spurs’ injury woes continued into the second period as Castle and Johnson left the pitch, while Wembanyama and Castle returned later. Paul surpassed Jason Kidd early in the second period with his 12,092. Assist Murphy III and Boston continued to score points. San Antonio then combined some of its best two-way play to go on a 19-4 run and grab the lead. Wembanyama and Castle came back into the game to complement the higher energy of Chris Paul and Jeremy Sochan, giving the Spurs a 71-62 halftime lead.

New Orleans attempted its comeback in the second half when Herb Jones Jr. caught fire on the field. While Wembanyama damaged the scorebook, Bassey spent the non-Wemby minutes fending off every Pelicans shot near him. After rejecting a shot from Trey Jemison III, Bassey got a pair of free throws on the other end to the crowd’s appreciation. Rookie Yves Missi continued to impress on and around the track while Castle continued his playing ways. The teams stayed relatively close during a relatively “cooler” shooting period and San Antonio still left the field with a five-point lead.

From a Pelicans fans perspective, please visit The bird writes.

San Antonio gets a much-needed four days off before heading west to face the Portland Trailblazers on Friday, December 13th at 9:00 PM CDT.