Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images Wemby’s first 50-point game, hitting 20 threes in 3 games, and Castle breaking out as a starter made this a fun week. 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 3: More injuries (especially to Jeremy Sochan) and poor execution derailed the good rhythm the Spurs had built in Week 2. Week 4: 2-2 (6-8, 12th in West) 116-96 win vs. Sacramento Kings Recap: After a disappointing home loss to the Jazz in the previous game, the Spurs came out determined to do better against a good (but tired) Sacramento Kings team on the second night of a back-to-back. Although they got out to a slow start, an angry, “Gregg Popovich-like” timeout from Mitch Johnson in the second quarter lit a spark under his team, and they responded from there, cruising to their biggest win of this very young season. What we learned 139-130 win vs. Washington Wizards Recap: Victor Wembanyama posted the first 50-point game of his career while hitting 8-16 from three. The streak put him at 20-37 over the last three games, which alone raised his three-point shooting for the season from 22.6% to 34.3%. The Spurs built a couple big leads on the back of his big night, and although the bench and a 42-point outing from Jordan Poole tried to spoil it a few times, they held on for the win. What we learned 115-120 loss vs. Los Angeles Lakers (NBA Emirates Cup) Recap: In their first Cup game against the “defending champion” Lakers, the Spurs continued their hot ways in the first quarter before the Lakers took control in the middle two. However, they fought back in the fourth on the back of emerging rookie standout Stephon Castle, who had 22 points and several clutch shots. They even took the lead a couple of times late, but some mistakes (plus an iffy charging call) derailed their hopes. Still, LeBron James came out of that game with plenty of praise for Castle, both to him and to the media, which has to be any rookie’s dream-come-true. What we learned 93-110 loss at Dallas Mavericks Recap: On the second night of a back-to-back and extremely short-handed with Wembanyama (banged knees in the Lakers game) and Vassell (load management) sitting (and of course no Sochan), the Spurs fought hard but were were no match for a Mavs squad that has struggled of late but still has too much individual talent for the shorthanded Spurs to overcome, ending what was otherwise a fun week with a second straight loss. What we learned Power Rankings John Schuhmann, NBA.com — 19 (last week: 21) OffRtg: 110.2 (21) DefRtg: 111.8 (12) NetRtg: -1.6 (18) Pace: 98.7 (20) Victor Wembanyama totaled 84 points (with a career-high 50 on Wednesday) as the Spurs picked up wins over the Kings and Wizards to get back to .500. But they’ve since dropped two straight. Three takeaways 1. Wembanyama continues to take more than half of his shots from outside the paint, but those shots were falling (5-for-9 from mid-range, 14-for-28 from 3-point range) against Sacramento and Washington. Of course, in the paint, he’s shot 58-for-79 (73.4%), the best mark among 71 players with at least 75 attempts. He was 7-for-9 in the paint against the Lakers on Friday, but 5-for-16 from the outside (air-balling a late 3 for the lead) and didn’t attempt a single free throw in the five-point loss. 2. The Spurs are running a lot of actions (pick-and-rolls, inverted pick-and-rolls, dribble-handoffs) with Chris Paul and Wembanyama, who spend most of their minutes on the floor together. There was also some success with Wembanyama handing to Devin Vassell out of the left corner late in the Lakers’ loss, though Vassell has played just 18 of his 90 minutes with both Paul and Wembanyama also on the floor. 3. With Jeremy Sochan hurt and Vassell coming off the bench, Stephon Castle continues to start and play pretty well. The Spurs’ current lineup has outscored opponents by an amazing 58 points (35.7 per 100 possessions) in 76 total minutes, with some help from the opponents having shot just 13-for-56 (23%) from 3-point range in that time. It was a plus-12 in a little less than 12 minutes in their five-point loss to the Lakers. Both Wembanyama and Vassell sat out the Spurs’ loss in Dallas on Saturday, the second game of a back-to-back. They don’t have a back-to-back this week, but they do have two of the best teams in the league – the Thunder and Warriors – coming to the Frost Bank Center. The Spurs’ first game against Oklahoma City is tied with the Wembanyama-less Dallas loss for their worst offensive performance (93 points on 100 possessions) of the season. Brett Siegel, Clutch Points — 23 (last week: 23) News out of San Antonio this past week revolved around head coach Gregg Popovich, as it was revealed that he suffered a mild stroke. Popovich will be away from the team indefinitely as he seeks the medical care he needs to get back to full strength. The Spurs remain optimistic that he will be able to coach again during the 2024-25 season. In the interim, Mitch Johnson has led the Spurs to a 6-8 start, with Victor Wembanyama coming alive recently. Wemby had a career-high 50 points and eight made threes last week against the Washington Wizards. As the second-year star finds his groove offensively and players like Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson contribute, San Antonio will continue to be a threat in the NBA power rankings. Coming up: Tues. 11/19 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (Emirates Cup); Thurs. 11/21 vs. Utah Jazz; Sat. 11/23 vs. Golden State Warriors Prediction: 1-2 — The Spurs met my prediction of 2-2 last week, but this week’s schedule is harder (even though it’s entirely at home, again). They may stand a better chance against the Chet Holmgren-less (hp) Thunder than I’m giving them credit for, but OKC still has plenty of fire power the Spurs will have to contend with, not to mention Wemby is listed as questionable. The same goes with the Warriors on Saturday, who have surprised so far as the top team in the West and added infamous Spurs-killer Buddy Hield to the mix. Their best chance for a win will be a revenge matchup against the Jazz, who upset them at home a couple of weeks ago.