Julian Champagnie and the Spurs will bite their fingers. Between a bad pass and a lack of toughness on rebounds, the Texan shooter complicated the task for his team with two avoidable ball losses, while the Spurs held the right end (103-102).
Behind, Tyrese Maxey (32 points and 10 rebounds) put on his superhero costume to plant a huge 3-point shot full axis on the head of Jeremy Sochan, 29 seconds from time. Enough to complete a fatal 8-0 for the Spurs and offer a 10th victory of the season to the 76ers (111-106)!
“Without our last two turnovers at the end, the match would have gone differently but we have to keep moving forward and show resilience”noted Julian Champagnie, convinced that the Spurs will “in the right direction”. “We blame ourselves but anyway, we won't win all of our games in the NBA, it's impossible. We must learn lessons from this defeat to continue to grow. »
Bad management in “money time”
Coming back in the last period under the leadership of a valuable Stephon Castle (17 points), the Spurs ended up paying cash for their mistakes in “money time”. The shooters from Pennsylvania used their skill to finish the job, when the Texan defense stood out by its absence…
On offense, too, the Texans stammered in their basketball (18 turnovers, including 5 for “Wemby”, compared to 8 for the 76ers) and only shot 33.3% at 3-points (15/45). “We were not up to our standards offensively”whispers Victor Wembanyama, in the corridors of the Well Fargo Center.
Almost always booed by Philadelphia fans as soon as he touched the ball after Joel Embiid's expulsion (“I’ve seen much worse, it’s nothing”he admits), Victor Wembanyama, however, signed a complete statistics line, with 26 points on 9/19 shots, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 8 blocks in 37 minutes.
Freshly voted best “Player of the Week” in the West, “Wemby” was greatly hampered by his compatriot Guerschon Yabusele and not always put in the best mood by his teammates. “Guerschon put his whole body in opposition to “Wemby”. He made her life difficult”greeted Nick Nurse.
Tenth in the West (15 wins – 14 losses), the Spurs will try to bounce back against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, with a first Christmas match under the Victor Wembanyama era. The Sixers will also be there, with a (short) trip to the reigning champions at TD Garden in Boston.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
— Joel Embiid ejected for the second time in his career. Sanctioned with an offensive foul in the second quarter for a forceful pass on Victor Wembanyama, the Cameroonian pivot sharply attacked the referee who quickly sanctioned him with two technical fouls. Synonymous with a return to the locker room…
— Un Guerschon Yabusele solide. Powered as the first pivot after the expulsions of Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond, the “Dancing Bear” delivered a successful match with his 17 points on 6/8 shots (including 3/5 behind the arc), 4 rebounds, 2 passes and 4 interceptions in 32 minutes. After a chaotic start to the season, the Sixers – eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last year – have a seventh success in ten games. And the French are far from being foreign to it… “He does everything the coach asks him to do. We can only appreciate having such a teammate« , salue Tyrese Maxey.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
From our correspondent in San Antonio (United States).
