Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images After losing their first two games of the week, the Spurs Welcome to the Week in Review: a Monday feature that looks back at the week that was for the San Antonio Spurs, takes a look at the week ahead, and more. Enjoy! Week 1: The Spurs split their first two games against Dallas and Houston to open the season 1-1. Week 2: 2-2 (3-3, 8th in West) 101-106 loss vs. Houston Rockets Recap: One game after the Spurs staved off a Rockets comeback to secure their first win of the season, the Rockets returned the favor in almost exact mirror image fashion to close the miniseries, getting out to fast a start of their own before eventually staving off a Spurs comeback themselves. What we learned 93-105 loss at Oklahoma City Thunder Recap: The highly anticipated first match-up of the season between young big men Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren did not go the Spurs’ way as Wemby played the worst game of his career with just 6 points, and as a result the Spurs could not take advantage of a rare off night from MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Suffice it to say, Gregg Popovich was not happy with his team’s effort and let the media know they had a long talk after the game. What we learned 108-66 win at Utah Jazz Recap: Apparently Wemby got the memo from the last game and upped his effort level the very next night in Utah, making history in the process by becoming just the the third player in NBA history to post multiple 5x5 games in his career. The rest of the team followed suit in blowing out what will likely be the worst team in the West. Another observation: Pop may have told Chris Paul to start looking for his own shot to help open up the offense, and it worked. Aggressive CP3 and Wemby take the Spurs’s offense to another level. What we learned 113-103 win vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Recap: The Spurs offense continued to thrive under an aggressive Paul, and this time the bench came along for the ride with a 25-point outing from Keldon Johnson to help the Spurs put away a tired Timberwolves team on the second night of a back-to-back. It’s just two games, but here’s to hoping the Spurs have figured something out in these last two games and it carries into this week. What we learned Power Rankings John Schuhmann, NBA.com — 18 (last week: 21) OffRtg: 106.6 (27) DefRtg: 107.4 (4) NetRtg: -0.8 (16) Pace: 98.1 (26) The Spurs have won two straight games, getting their best victory of the early season on Saturday, when they knocked off the Wolves with a big second half. Three takeaways 1. The Wolves were the league’s best defensive team by a wide margin last season. But the win on Saturday, was the Spurs’ best offensive game (113 points on 96 possessions) thus far. And that was more about their shooting in the paint (26-for-34) than their shooting from beyond the arc (13-for-42), even though the 13 3s were a season high. Overall, the Spurs are one of two teams – the Pelicans are the other – that rank in the bottom 10 in three of the four factors on offense. 2. As the Spurs began the season 1-3, they were outscored by 18.9 points per 100 possessions with Chris Paul on the floor. But over their wins against Utah and Minnesota, Paul was a plus-49, totaling 34 points (on 13-for-22 shooting) and 23 assists (with just two turnovers). The 39-year old has taken 60% of his shots from 3-point range, easily the highest rate of his career. 3. Victor Wembanyama’s Defensive Player of the Year candidacy will depend, at least partially, on where the Spurs rank as a team on that end of the floor. Through two weeks, they rank fourth, having allowed 18.9 fewer points per 100 possessions with Wembanyama on the floor (99.2) than they have with him off the floor (118.1). They’ll play three teams that rank in the bottom seven offensively this week, with the exception being their visit to Houston on Wednesday, their third meeting with the Rockets. Brett Siegel, Clutch Points — 19 (last week: 19) A recent 10-point win over the Timberwolves may be that inflection point for the San Antonio Spurs to change their recent misfortunes and truly become a threat in the Western Conference. Aside from Victor Wembanyama’s brilliance, the Spurs as a whole are locking in defensively and forcing their opponents into tough, contested shots. Recently, it was announced that legendary head coach Gregg Popovich will be out indefinitely after a health scare, so assistant Mitch Johnson will serve as the acting head coach in San Antonio moving forward. Coming up: Mon. 11/4 @ Los Angeles Clippers; Wed. 11/6 @ Houston Rockets; Thurs. 11/7 vs. Portland Trail Blazers; Sat. 11/9 vs. Utah Jazz Prediction: 3-1 — This might be a risky bet considering the Spurs have become known for massive November losing streaks the last two seasons, but I feel like they’re going to avoid that this season. They seem to have found their stride in the last two games, they aren’t in tank mode, they aren’t “experimenting” with players out of position, and they have the veteran leadership to help them keep focus. I’m predicting they will split the road games in LA and Houston, then take the two home games against the only two teams who were predicted to finish lower than them in the West.