Grades: San Antonio Spurs vs. Indiana Pacers – Game #43
Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs lost in Paris (Photo via X)
After blowing out the Indiana Pacers in the first game in Paris, the San Antonio Spurs were the ones who got blown out in the rematch. San Antonio’s 136-98 loss dropped their record to 20-23, while Indiana improved to 25-20.
Early on, the Pacers made runs but the Spurs were able to rally back. At halftime, the Spurs were down 15 points but, once again, the good guys battled back and led by a point with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Unfortunately, that’s when the wheels fell off.
Tyrese Haliburton caught fire to spark an 11-0 run and the Pacers never looked back. In the final stanza, the Spurs looked to be out of gas and they were outscored 38-12.
Overall, San Antonio wasn’t as bad as the final score would suggest — but they can’t feel too good about this game after the ugly collapse.
Stats: Spurs vs. Pacers
Spurs vs. Pacers – Final Grades
Victor Wembanyama
Wembanyama is so good at basketball that he can put up 20 points and 12 rebounds even when he’s playing bad. In the second game in Paris, the Frenchman never got it going on either end. Defensively, he was a step slow both on the inside and outside. He only tallied one block in 36 minutes and got worse on that end as the game progressed. Offensively, he was better — but not a whole lot better. He was inefficient shooting-wise, his shot-selection wasn’t great and his passing was sub par. Wembanyama was also loose with the ball and lacked physicality too often. All in all, I’d label his homecoming to Paris as a success due to how well he played in the first game — but this one was forgettable.
Grade: D+
Devin Vassell
While Wembanyama clearly underperformed, Vassell was way worse. In 33 minutes, he did a lot more harm than good. He was basically only shooting three-pointers, his playmaking was minimal, his defense was poor and he was rushing all of his decisions. When Vassell plays like this, he brings down the level of the entire team. This was further evidence that he needs to figure out how to play within the framework of the team.
Grade: D-
Chris Paul
Paul played well enough for San Antonio to compete. He was actively looking to score, which helped keep Indiana’s defense honest. He was passing the ball well and kept his miscues to a minimum. Defensively, Paul competed — though he did struggle to have a positive impact on that end.
Grade: B
Harrison Barnes
The Spurs would have been in even hotter water if Barnes didn’t play so well. In 29 minutes, he poured in a team-high 25 points. He drove the ball to the hoop with chutzpah, he was aggressive looking for his shots from the perimeter and he helped his efficiency by getting to the line a team-high seven times. Barnes was also better on the boards than usual and he was attentive on the defensive end. He was a bit sloppier than normal but most of those issues were related to him desperately trying to keep the Spurs in it.
Grade: A-
Stephon Castle
The good: Castle passed the ball well, handled a healthy amount of playmaking and was never shy about attacking the rim. He also deserves credit for limiting his turnovers, which has been a problem lately. His work on the boards was commendable and there were a lot of good possessions on the defensive end. The bad: Castle could have mixed in even more passes. At this point of his career, he shouldn’t be leading the team in field goal attempts. Castle shot poorly, which remains an area of extreme concern.
Grade: B
Tre Jones
Jones got roasted quite a bit on the defensive end. To say he was a liability on that end would be an understatement. Offensively, Jones was looking to score more than usual — and that didn’t work out too well. His one assist paints an accurate picture of his lack of playmaking. Jones was uncharacteristically poor in just about every area of the sport.
Grade: D-
Jeremy Sochan
Playing off the bench again after returning from a back injury, Sochan couldn’t have been much more underwhelming if he tried. In 14 minutes, he was 1-for-5 from the field, turned it over four times and fouled thrice. Let’s hope this was just a bump in the road because Sochan looked bad enough that I was concerned about the health of his back.
Grade: D-
Sandro Mamukelashvili
Mamukelashvili got some real minutes and did okay. His hustle was a breath of fresh air. He only scored three points but his activity helped his squad on both ends of the court. Defense will never be a strength but Mamukelashvili continues to show an impressive amount of diversity to his game.
Grade: B
Julian Champagnie
The stats don’t show it but Champagnie had a clumsy outing. He could usually be found fumbling the ball or otherwise bumbling around the court.
Grade: C-
Keldon Johnson
Johnson only played 11 minutes in this blowout. He wasn’t especially bad — but he also wasn’t doing much to help San Antonio stay afloat.
Grade: C+
Mitch Johnson
Johnson had no answers during the collapse. He ran too long with dying combinations. More tinkering and less helplessly watching the ship sink would have helped matters.
Grade: D+