The Spurs overcame an early injury scare as Victor Wembanyama had to leave three minutes into the game after banging knees with Giannis Antetokounmpo. He missed the rest of the first quarter, but the rest of the team with De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Luke Kornet playing well had the Spurs still ahead in the score when Victor re-entered the game at the start of the second quarter. Vic looked a little tentative for about a minute, and then took over the game as the Spurs took a 13 point halftime lead. The third quarter was a blowout for the Spurs as they took no prisoners on a 40-16 decimation of the guys in green, leading by 37 as the fourth quarter began. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a terrific start for the Bucks as he scored 14 of their first 17 points, but was pretty much held in check after that, scoring only 7 more points. The Spurs got great games from the entire starting lineup, and Keldon Johnson and Dylan Harper were very effective coming off the bench. It was a complete game from everyone, at least until garbage time, which was a little ugly for the Silver and Black, although no real harm was done. The fourth quarter was garbage time, but the quality of play was definitely not garbage, as the Bucks backups played hard and made the final score a little more respectable, as the Spurs won 119-101 after the Bucks outscored the Spurs 32-13 in the final quarter, with a gift goaltending call at the final buzzer. Observations As usual, the pregame show on FanDuel started with the wrong feed, some show about card collecting. It was switched to the correct feed after one minute, but I guess I learned a little about baseball cards in that minute. FanDuel really needs to pick up their game, but I have heard that they’re having financial difficulties. I guess they gambling money isn’t flowing as much as they thought it would. Victor shaved his head and looked like taller Jordan McLaughlin in warmups. I have to say, it looks good on him. Keldon had a matching do, and word is that they cut each other’s hair. Speaking of Keldon, he had an interview with Dan Weiss in the pregame, and from that it’s pretty clear that he’s now the leader of the team in the locker room. He’s always happy and has lots of fun, but he’s also one of the most competitive players on the roster. It was great to see Doc Rivers exchange barbs with Sean Elliott before tipoff. As much as the league is a business, these guys develop a camaraderie when they play together, and it never ends even years after they’re done playing. Victor had to leave the game thee minutes into the game when Giannis careened into him in the paint, with knee to knee contact. It looked like a charge to me, but it was called a block by the refs and Mitch Johnson didn’t challenge. More importantly, Victor had to go to the locker room, hobbling a bit. He spent most of the first quarter in the locker room, but was seen warming up in the tunnel near the bench with a few minutes left in the quarter. The Spurs somehow managed to take a as much as a seven point lead while Victor was out, and finished the first quarter up 31-27 with a De’Aaron Fox triple late. Victor re-entered the game at the start of the second quarter and looked fine. After an awkward first few minutes, the Spurs took over the game and were able to get a bit of breathing room with a 15-0 run. Why does it seem like when Victor enters the game, everybody else quits playing? I get that it’s fun to watch Wemby, but maybe run some offense or something. One on five isn’t great, even if the one is an incredible freak of nature. It’s crazy how often opponents foul Julian Champagnie on three point shots. You’re not supposed to foul jump shooters. [Note: in the closed captions, his name is Sam Penny.] I thought Myles Turner was going to be really good for the Bucks, but he didn’t look good tonight, and took a lot of bad shots. Maybe the Pacers knew what they were doing when they let him go. San Antonio led 66-53 at the half, and it could have been more, except for Kyle Kuzma going crazy and hitting five three point shots. Put somebody on that guy. Carter Bryant is starting to look like a basketball player. He’s always looked like an elite athlete, but today you saw some inklings that he’s starting to figure things out, and not just trying to destroy the rim on every trip down the court, although he did have one of his signature missed dunks in the fourth quarter during garbage time, and an unforced turnover with a bad travel. It’s probably going to take a while. The broadcast team of Sean Elliott and Jacob Tobey always start off the third quarter with some food from a local restaurant, and I’m usually annoyed by it as they talk more about the food than the game, but as the Spurs were super sharp out of the gate after halftime and took a 35 point lead, it wasn’t as annoying. The Spurs led 106-69 after three, outscoring the Bucks 40-16 in the quarter. With the big lead, Wembanyama took a seat two minutes into the fourth, and Carter Bryant shared the floor with Lindy Waters III and Jeremy Sochan. The Bucks also put in a bench lineup, with Amir Coffey and Cole Anthony making some nice plays for the Bucks, as they cut into the lead to make the final score a little more respectable. Tonight is the halfway point for the season, and a 28-13 record is much better than I could have imagined. But I think these Spurs can play better than this. The best is yet to come. The next game for the Spurs is on Saturday against the Timberwolves. The Spurs are going to have to have a plan for dealing with the physical play from Julius Randle, who used his strength to neutralize Wembanyama late in the previous matchup, perhaps putting another player who can match his physical play on the defensive end. Also using more motion to cause switches might be helpful, if you’re reading this, Mitch. See you on Saturday. ...read more read less