Tonight was the kind of game that you really want to see from a team that’s becoming a contender. The Spurs took a lead early and kept building on it throughout the game. The Hawks were on the second night of a back-to-back, as were the Spurs, but the home team looked like the more exhausted team, and except for a short surge to start the third quarter, they didn’t provide much of a contest tonight. Wembanyama dominated the game in limited minutes, but everyone on the Spurs had some nice plays, and the Hawks just looked overmatched. The Spurs outscored the Hawks by significant margins in the first three quarters, and even in extended garbage time, the Spurs bench crew held court, only getting outscored by two points in the fourth. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a nice game for the home team, but the rest of the Hawks had a bad night as the Spurs dominated from end-to-end on what could be the easiest win of the year for them so far. This was the fifth straight win for the Spurs, because as we all know, the NBA Cup Finals don’t count, which means that the Spurs are on their longest win streak of the season.
Victor had 26 points in an efficient 21 minutes, and Devin Vassell had a nice 18 point game. Stephon Castle filled up the stat sheet with 17 points and 7 assists, which could have been more if he hadn’t rested most of the fourth quarter. The end of the Spurs bench got some valuable experience in extended garbage time as the Hawks had to play their starters with a lot of players unavailable due to injury.
The Spurs travel to Washington for a game on Sunday night after this game for a rematch with the Wizards, who were fairly competitive with San Antonio a few days ago for about two and a half quarters before the Spurs took over the game late and won by 25 points. With any luck, Sunday’s game will be more of the same.