How are Spurs vibes in San Antonio? Victor Wembanyama makes fun declaration after beating Thunder again appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Following a 130-110 victory vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder , the San Antonio Spurs continue to sit second in the Western Conference. Victor Wembanyama and company have now handed OKC two of their four losses (both in the span of just a week and a half) to pull to within just three losses of the defending champs.
The assumption that the vibes are positive around the Silver and Black these days is a correct one.
"Now, it's great," Wembanyama said of the feeling within his team.
While most thought the Spurs would be better than last year's 34-win club heading into this season, the trajectory figured closer to the bottom end of the playoff picture. Capturing a sixth seed in the playoff picture seemed realistic, if not ambitious. San Antonio hasn't seen the postseason since 2019.
But a start that has them at 22-7 following a second triumph vs. Oklahoma City is translating beyond wins and losses.
"On and off the court, we're getting along great," the Spurs generational talent added. "It's a lot of fun, It's easy to get in the flow of this team because it's paying off. Like this, the efforts we do on the court are paying off."
Immediately following the victory vs. Oklahoma City , Wembanyama led the crowd in a Skol-like chant inspired by a cheer club he founded that attends games. The 21-year-old phenom says it's a culture that starts before the opening tip and extends beyond the final buzzer.
"It's not like we're doing them (good habits) and not seeing any results. So, it's contagious but we need to make it even more contagious and take pleasure from playing games like this, doing hard things."
It's easier to be motivated by those efforts when they pay off, when we got wins like this," Wemby continued. "It's inspiring to see other guys give this kind of effort to things that don't show up on the stat sheet because I try to do that and we try and the coaching staff tries also to do that. Try to recognize and praise efforts like this to teammates."
After starting the season 5-0 for the first time in the history of their proud franchise, the Spurs truly started opening eyes league-wide when they continued to win without their best player. They sported a 9-3 record while Wemby sat out with a calf strain .
"It's true that the game is played differently when I'm on or off, but my teammates do a great job at recognizing that," their leading scorer for the year admitted.
"Maybe somebody will get a layup because that other guy ran all the way to the corner and we're gonna praise this guy for running all the way or doing this little extra shift in defense," Wembanyama continued in detailing his team's effort.
That focus on grabbing at least sixth seed may have to be modified. At this point, that seems like a bottom for the young Spurs .
"Ultimately, the goal is the same, getting into the playoffs right away, right after 82 games. So, we don't skip steps and now we can aim higher and higher because we check the boxes and there's still some things we still need to be more consistent every time, one through 15 players," Wembanyama concluded. "But, yeah, we check boxes and now we can aim for the very top of the conference."
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