![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/wemby-holmgren-121225-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Will the return of star center Victor Wembanyama be enough for the Spurs to slow the balanced Thunder?<\/p>\n
LAS VEGAS \u2014 He began the season with force, displaying much of that at both ends of the floor, all while showing a more refined and mature flow, and this combination sent shivers through the opposition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, before a calf strain brought everything to a temporary halt, there was no question about it, literally or otherwise\u00a0\u2014\u00a0stopping Victor\u00a0Wembanyama\u00a0was a tall order for anyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And speaking of that turn of a phrase, same goes for the Oklahoma City Thunder, now 24-1 and swinging sledgehammers since opening night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So we have arrived here, to this desert basketball oasis, to learn which order will loom tallest come tipoff on Saturday (9 ET, Prime<\/a>). Really, that\u2019s the flavor of this Emirates NBA Cup<\/a> West Semifinal \u2014 can the return of Wemby<\/a> enable the San Antonio Spurs to pump the brakes on the Thunder\u2019s historic roll?\u00a0<\/p>\n Strangely enough, the Spurs have done quite well without\u00a0Wemby, thank you.\u00a0They\u2019re\u00a09-3 this season when\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0out of the lineup, and he has\u00a0been\u00a0since Nov. 15 because of the calf. The Spurs played it cautiously during his rehab, given how calf strains can mushroom and become much more troublesome.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Wembanyama walked into T-Mobile Arena, took part in Friday\u2019s practice, then flashed the thumbs up.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just a little tired,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0\u201cBut right now,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0feeling great. I think we have done the right things over this past however long\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0been, three weeks, one month, and\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0feeling great.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n This is a refreshing development, not only for the Spurs, but for members of the Somebody Please Beat OKC fan club. Everything changes when\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0on the floor, not only for the Spurs, but the team across mid-court as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n Suddenly, that opposition must think twice before attacking the rim for layups and dunks. Suddenly, there\u2019s a lot more competition for rebounds. Suddenly, there are matchup issues \u2014 like, seriously, how many players can measure up to a 7-foot-5 center who can do damage in the paint, from mid-range and from the 3-point stripe?\u00a0<\/p>\n And this goes for OKC, by far the best defensive team in the NBA and among the best all time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Victor Wembanyama racks up 40 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks in the Spurs’ season-opening 125-92 win.<\/p>\n Wembanyama\u00a0was massive on opening night when he manhandled Anthony Davis and the Dallas Mavericks with a 40-point, 15-rebound night and\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0taper much, if any. The very next game he blocked nine shots in New Orleans, then dropped 31 points against Brooklyn.\u00a0<\/p>\n His season developed a special flavor; it was Kia MVP-like, perhaps a natural progression for a player who entered the NBA with such high hopes and reasonable promise and gradually improved.\u00a0<\/p>\n When the calf injury hit, the Spurs were 8-4. There was no timetable for his return\u00a0\u2014\u00a0these injuries\u00a0can\u00a0be tricky\u00a0\u2014\u00a0so the Spurs had to navigate a trail that suddenly seemed treacherous. An unexpected development occurred: San Antonio\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0so vulnerable.\u00a0<\/p>\n The response in the rotation was a collective one.\u00a0Almost everyone\u00a0raised their level of play, and the Spurs never experienced a losing streak. From De\u2019Aaron Fox to Keldon Johnson to Stephon Castle to Devin Vassell and others, the Spurs prospered and became one of the league\u2019s surprises.<\/p>\n That\u2019s\u00a0why OKC, even with their dominant showing so far, understands how this latest opponent could be different than the others.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey are a really good team whether he is playing or not,\u201d said OKC guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, \u201cIt\u2019s going to come down to the things it usually does when you play really good teams \u2014 the X\u2019s and O\u2019s, the attention to detail, the 50\/50 balls, being physical, being smart out there. It should be a good matchup for us. Good test.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Yes, that\u2019s understandable. But there\u2019s the Spurs without Wemby, and then there\u2019s the Spurs with him, even if their record with Wemby doesn\u2019t reflect as favorably.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Spurs hope to\u00a0simply and easily revert to normal Saturday, now that\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0complete again and\u00a0Wemby\u2019s\u00a0in the lineup.\u00a0They\u2019re\u00a0certain to keep the reigns tight on\u00a0Wemby, but if the score is close and fourth\u00a0quarter\u00a0help is needed, do they pull back or release?\u00a0<\/p>\n Coach Mitch Johnson\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0see this\u00a0is\u00a0a debate. Of course\u00a0\u2014\u00a0caution will be the rule.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d\u00a0Johnson said.\u00a0\u201cHe\u2019s\u00a0going to be tired. The excitement, the mental fatigue, he was tired the first time I saw him play live against video guys. He is just so excited to be\u00a0back out\u00a0on the court. So obviously in a game like this, it would be, regardless. But I can only expect\u00a0the excitement\u00a0for\u00a0him and want to get out there.\u00a0So\u00a0I would suspect an early sub and not his normal minutes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0mean\u00a0Wemby\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0provide an impact before the\u00a0minutes\u00a0restrictions hit.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe want him to continue to come out here and be himself,\u201d\u00a0said Fox.\u00a0\u201cWe\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0want him to change the way that he plays.\u00a0Obviously with him missing time, I think we have been playing extremely well even when he has been out. But him coming back into the fold,\u00a0I think that\u00a0adds to us offensively and defensively.\u00a0So\u00a0we want him to continue to be himself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Regardless,\u00a0it\u2019ll\u00a0be a steep challenge for the Spurs. The Thunder right now\u00a0are\u00a0in another world. Gilgeous-Alexander is sitting fourth quarters; no need to check back into games that are secured by OKC\u2019s deep bench. Chet Holmgren is feeling frisky and starting to drop double-doubles. Speaking of feeling it, Jalen Williams, back in the fold after missing\u00a0roughly two\u00a0months, is getting more comfortable\u00a0by\u00a0the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is leading on both ends of the court in OKC.<\/p>\n The Thunder\u00a0seem\u00a0so balanced and poetic that\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0hard to spot a weakness, mainly because there\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0any glaring ones. Even if Shai has an\u00a0off shooting\u00a0night\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and he has made at least half his shots in 12 straight games\u00a0\u2014\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0so much in reserve.\u00a0Anyway, OKC\u2019s defense is capable of bailing the team out even if Shai and Holmgren misfire.<\/p>\n It will\u00a0likely take\u00a0the Spurs\u2019\u00a0best effort of the season to hand the Thunder a second loss to the season. And even if their center\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0spend much time on the floor in the fourth quarter himself,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0feeling confident sitting on the bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been really proud,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cOf course, it\u2019s been hard to watch from my couch, but almost every night, they have proven me that I have nothing to worry about. The brand of basketball we are playing, that they have been playing, just makes me proud because it\u2019s getting closer to the ideal basketball, in my opinion.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody has something to eat, you know. Everybody can step up at any time. Everybody can take up responsibilities. Everybody trusts their next teammate.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0just beautiful to see.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at\u00a0spowell@nba.com<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on\u00a0X<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Will the return of star center Victor Wembanyama be enough for the Spurs to slow the balanced Thunder?…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85,190839],"class_list":["post-344844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-thunder-spurs-nba-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}