Spurs Learn From Celtics, Victor Wembanyama Adapts & Bench Gets Shining Chance: 3 Takeaways

A blowout loss was how the San Antonio Spurs closed out an eventful 2023, but despite being unable to overcome the loaded Boston Celtics, there were positives to takeaway.

SAN ANTONIO — A team led by a 19-year-old rookie and one boasting five All-Stars couldn't be further apart from each other.

The San Antonio Spurs make up the former while the Boston Celtics are represented by the latter, and despite the two squads' vast differences, fate (or the NBA schedule) had them facing off against each other just a few hours before midnight on New Year's Eve. 

And just like on paper, one team far out-performed the other. 

Spoiler alert: it wasn't the Spurs.

San Antonio kept up with its visitors for the first quarter, but things got out of hand rather quickly down the stretch of the first half. Part of it was because of Victor Wembanyama's lack of help, which wasn't completely the Spurs' fault — they were without both Zach Collins and Keldon Johnson — but it certainly didn't help matters. 

Once the second quarter came around, the Spurs kissed any chance of winning goodbye, and instead focused on taking away from the game what they could — which meant sending out the bench unit for the final seven minutes of a blowout. 

They didn't get the job done, but there were positives to takeaway. 

Here are three of them. 

Dec 31, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) loses the ball in front of San Antonio Spurs forwards Jeremy Sochan (10) Julian Champagnie (30) in the first half at Frost Bank Center / © Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

A Learning Experience

Just like their two-game home stand against the LA Clippers back in November, the San Antonio Spurs got a chance to face a bona fide contender in the Boston Celtics.

Entering the contest, they knew their chances at victory were slim, especially without two key players in Johnson and Collins, but that doesn't mean they weren't going to try. San Antonio did what it could, but once it became apparent that it would be out-matched, the focus became more on learning from the Celtics instead of beating them.

“I can feel that compared to the past years, they have some something extra this year," Wembanyama said. "Of course, it's difficult to play against them [but] it's a good challenge. But we learned today. They made very few mistakes and that's inspiring.”

Between Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White, the Celtics already had 80 points. The rest came from their role players, but as a whole, Boston's squad is well put-together. The Spurs have plenty of talent, yes, but still a long way to go before being contenders at the highest level. 

Blowout losses to the Celtics are just a chance for them to take notes and understand where they can improve. That was certainly the case Sunday evening — and will be a chance for San Antonio to work on its game. 

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Wembanyama's Adaptability 

Victor Wembanyama didn't notch another double-double against Boston.

Had he played regular minutes throughout the game, he likely would have. But between his minor ankle injury and the Spurs' decision to play their bench in the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter, it wasn't what ended up happening. 

While it can be argued that Wembanyama could have done more to help bring the Spurs, in the first half, he did. By the mid-way point of the second quarter, the rookie had notched 15 points and a handful of rebounds. He even sent the crowd into a frenzy after dunking from behind the free-throw line. 

This season, the rookie has had a strong individual showing. When his number is called, he's ready. Sometimes, that means putting up a 38-point game to beat the Suns, whereas other times, it means notching a 20-20 game against the Chicago Bulls. Wembanyama is able to adapt to his team's needs, and that was also apparent on Sunday. 

In the first half, Wembanyama seemingly couldn't miss, but in the second half, he happily sat on the bench while his teammates got their chance to shine.

And for the Spurs, that was a high priority against the Celtics. 

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Chances to Shine

An NBA game can go one of two ways. 

Either the fourth quarter is a back-and-forth with both teams involved doing all they can to scrape out a win, or it's a complete blowout. Between the Spurs and the Celtics, the latter was most certainly true. 

But instead of the Spurs keeping their starting unit out on the floor in a vague attempt to mount a comeback, they decided to raise the white flag on the game and further their less-experienced players' development on the big stage.

Sidy Cissoko, Devonte' Graham, Dominick Barlow were among those who got extended minutes to close out the game, though according to Popovich, they weren't seen as "the backups" for the regular starters. 

“[They're the] same as everybody else," he said. "They always do their job. They work as hard as they can. The only guy that shot it well was Devonte’ [Graham], but they gave the same effort as all the other players earlier.”

And Wembanyama fully agreed.

"We haven't been winning every game so far, so it's not a problem to try many different things," the rookie said. "Those guys, they've taken their opportunities every time they [get] them, and more are going to come. They're not here for nothing. The coaching staff believes in them, and we believe in them. We trust them." 

Getting a chance on the big stage was the silver lining for the younger Spurs, and another one for the team as a whole. It might not be a regular occurrence, but it was beneficial for Wembanyama and company, and for whatever it was worth Sunday night, that ended up being what San Antonio needed.