A hush washed over the Frost Bank Center after Victor Wembanyama went down with an apparent knee injury in the first quarter of the San Antonio Spurs game against the Milwaukee Bucks. As Wembanyama skipped to the locker room, the weight of the Spurs’ two-game losing streak hit like a ton of bricks. How would the struggling team stay afloat without their star? That silence and anxiety turned into elation fairly quickly. The Spurs got Wembanyama back a mere 10 minutes later. Then their offense, which had been anemic in the last few games, exploded to propel San Antonio to a 117-90 victory over the Bucks. The Spurs scored over 30 points in every frame besides the fourth quarter, which was played entirely in garbage time. They shot 51% from the field and knocked down 16 three-pointers, shooting 43% from deep. They kept their foot on the gas for three quarters and buried the Bucks at home. It was everything they had not been able to do in their recent cold stretch. “I thought our offense was really clean and sharp tonight,” said Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson. “Most importantly, it felt like our best passing game in a while.” San Antonio had 28 assists and spread the wealth around with their scoring. Six different Spurs scored double-digit points. Seven different Spurs hit a three-pointer. The team played with pace, moved the ball well, and made good decisions when it found them. Wembanyama led the way despite playing only 22 minutes. He had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks, while hitting five of his six three-pointers. He looked more like himself defensively as well, disrupting shots at the rim and making it hard for the Bucks to score inside. The Spurs only allowed 30 points in the paint on Thursday night. Wembanyama shouldn’t get all of the defensive credit. When he went down in the first quarter, the Spurs gave 6-6 guard Stephon Castle the Giannis Antetokounmpo assignment. The Greek Freak had 14 early first-quarter points, but was quickly stifled by Castle and company, only scoring 7 points the rest of the game, finishing with a Bucks-high 21 points. “Steph did a great job (guarding Giannis),” Johnson said. “I thought we also got better around the on-ball defender on him. Early on, I thought our shifts and the four people behind the person guarding him were not tight enough, not making the ball find other people. Then we weren’t closing out and trying to take some of the other stuff away.” It was a bounce-back game for the Spurs trio of guards, who had struggled in their last few games. Castle had a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists on an efficient 6-9 shooting from the field with 0 turnovers. Castle played off the ball more than in previous games, while De’Aaron Fox took on primary playmaking responsibilities. He made the most of it with 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Dylan Harper chipped in off the bench with 13 points and 5 assists. “(Harper) and Steph did a good job tonight of keeping their dribble,” Johsnon said. “They’ve been picking up their gathers a little early at times, which has put them in a bad spot at times, where they get caught in the air, and if they don’t have a clean finish or a clean pass out, they can get in trouble a bit. I thought they did a great job playing off two (feet), keeping their dribble alive, and they did a great job of finding people and finding them on time and on target in rhythm.” The Spurs turned a 13-point halftime lead into a 30-point one quickly in the third quarter, while broadcasters Sean Elliott and Jacob Tobey bragged about their halftime meal. During that stretch, San Antonio went nuclear from three, with Harrison Barnes knocking down a few, and Wembanyama hitting a trio of threes. From there, the Bucks seemed to wave the white flag. Milwaukee emptied its bench with time left to go in the third quarter. San Antonio improved to 28-13 with the victory, moving back into second place in the Western Conference. The Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves are right on their heels, with Denver tied for second, and Minnesota a game back. The Spurs will get a chance to give themselves some cushion when they host the Wolves on Saturday night, looking to get revenge for their last-minute loss to Minnesota earlier this week. ...read more read less