On January 5, Beijing time, the NBA regular season Spurs hosted the Bucks, before the game, the Spurs were 5-28 and ranked first in the West, while the Bucks were 24-10 and ranked second in the East. Bucks starters: Lillard + Beasley + Middleton + Antetokounmpo + Da Luo, Spurs starters: Sochan + Champagnie + Jones + Vassell + Wembanyama.
In the first quarter of the game, Wemban's foul in the face of Brother Alphabet at the beginning, two free throws, Brother Alphabet responded to the layup, Vassell and Middleton soared three-pointers to each other, the two sides were deadlocked for a while, Middleton and Brother Alphabet continued to score, the Bucks gradually gained the upper hand, Wemban and Jones teamed up to stop the bleeding for the Spurs, the Bucks attacked fiercely, Brother Alphabet 2+1, Lillard and Portis made a layup, the point difference came to double digits, Jones, Keldon and Barlow led the team to play a wave, the Spurs chased 5 points, Lillard hit both free throws, Vassell hit the board, Osman scored three points, and the difference was only 2 points, Connaughton hit a three-point shot, Sochan hatted Beecham, Osman and Sochan fired outside, Connaughton and Beecham also responded with three points, and the Spurs had a net minus 7 points in the 31-38 quarter.
The Spurs had to strengthen their defense, and at the beginning of the second quarter, Portis dribbled and smashed to his foot, and Osman was 2+1, Sohan made a foul, Wechan threw a dunk, but the Bucks' side Brother Alphabet has been scoring, the Spurs can't do anything about him, Brother Alphabet nails Wesley, Wemban's hat Portis, Sochan layup to chase 3 points, Portis and Da Luo teamed up to help the Bucks stabilize the situation, Barlow jumper, Sochan throws, Jones and Vassell are also scoring, the Spurs are very tenacious, once chased 50-51, Beasley hit a three-point shot, Brother Alphabet dunked, Vassell scored 5 points in a row to lead the Spurs to bite the point difference, Beasley scored three points, the Lakers veteran was very accurate, Wemban's force split Huashan to make up for the dunk, but Middleton made a three-point shot, Jones missed, and the Spurs were defeated 59-64 Bucks at halftime.
Halftime statistics, Middleton 12 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, Antetokounmpo 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, Lopez 9 points and 2 rebounds, Beasley 8 points, Lillard 6 points and 7 assists. On the Spurs' side, Sochan had 9 points and 5 rebounds, Wembanyama had 8 points and 5 rebounds, Vassell had 14 points, Jones had 10 points, Osman had 9 points, and Barlow had 6 points and 4 assists.
Yibian fought again, Middleton retired from injury, at the beginning of the game, Brother Alphabet and Lillard took turns to cut points, Bobo shouted a timeout, and after coming back, Wemban showed off the operation, first scored a layup, then steal a dragon to dunk Da Luo, and also caused a foul, Jones threw and scored, the Spurs bit the point difference, Lillard made a jumper, and Wemban responded again with 2+1, it's not over yet, Wenban shot three points and hit again, this is crazy, Brother Alphabet is also tough, dunk and score in two consecutive rounds, the two sides are playing very fiercely, the Bucks have been unable to pull the point difference, Vassell and Beecham rushed each other for three points, Brother Alphabet crushed the layup, Vassell hit a three-point response, Brother Alphabet jumped to the back, it was still Vassell who responded with a layup, Keldon hit a three-point iron, and the Spurs were 93-93 Bucks at the end of the third quarter.
In the crucial final quarter of the game, Osman overtook with three points, Keldon scored three points again, Beasley, Payne and Lillard on the Bucks side were also scoring, the two sides chased me, Lillard felt revived in this quarter, scored frequently, Jones threw and scored, and when there were 3 minutes and 29 seconds left in the game, Wemban reappeared, Vassell dunked, the Spurs led by 5 points, and Brother Alphabet broke through to make 2+1, Brother Alphabet singled Wenban, after hitting three points, the Bucks chased to 118 draws, and then Wenban knocked over Brother Alphabet and was blown for an offensive foul, and then Brother Alphabet scored three points again, which is outrageous, at the critical moment, Brother Alphabet hit two three-pointers, Wenban was not to be outdone, and also hit three points, but Brother Alphabet dunked Jones to cause 2+1, and Sochan and Jones hit iron for three consecutive points, and finally the Spurs lost to the Bucks 121-125.
I have to say that it was a pity that the Spurs lost and almost staged a big upset. In terms of data, Wembanyama was 10 of 18, 2 of 8 three-pointers, 5 of 6 free throws and got 27 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 turnovers, and left the court in frustration after the game.
In addition, Popovich used Wemban too carefully, and changed it after playing 5 minutes in the first quarter, and in the third quarter, he replaced Wemban's early and played 26 minutes, which also made Wembana a little annoyed, sitting on the bench and sullen, it can be seen that Wembanyama also wants to play more, so Popovich should recognize the reality and should appropriately increase Wemban's playing time, refer to the Thunder's Holmgren, and let Wemban play at least 30 minutes.
Vassell played well, finishing with 34 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and when the Spurs were in trouble, Vassell was often the most stable player, frequently stepping up to stop the bleeding. Jones had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 turnovers, and Keldon had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 1 assist. The Spurs were resilient in this game, falling behind by double digits many times in the first three quarters, and were able to recover and successfully overtake in the final quarter, although they still lost in the end, but the Spurs' performance today is indeed commendable.
Overall, Wembanyama's strength is undoubted, he only needs to reduce outside shooting and increase offense under the basket, of course, if you have to become Durant, it is not impossible, but the shooting must ensure the shooting rate, moreover, the Spurs lack a point guard, Jones is really not good, if the Spurs have a Paul, Wemban's will take off.
Bucks stats: Brother Alphabet 44 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, 14 points in the final quarter, the impact is too strong, the Spurs can't defend it. Lillard 25 points, 4 rebounds and 10 assists, played poorly in the first three quarters, and stood up in the final quarter to score 11 points. Middleton had 12 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, Da Luo had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks, Beasley had 10 points and 2 rebounds, and Portis had 5 points and 4 rebounds. After beating the Spurs, the Bucks remain in second place in the East.