Victor Wembanyama, surging Spurs face depleted Grizzlies

The San Antonio Spurs are building momentum as the season winds down, a push that is putting pressure on Western Conference leader Oklahoma City.

San Antonio defeated the Miami Heat 136-111 on Monday for its sixth consecutive victory and 10th in 11 games. The Spurs (54-18) might be able to sneak a step closer to the Thunder on Wednesday as they visit the slumping, injury-riddled Memphis Grizzlies (24-47) while Oklahoma City (57-15) travels to face Boston.

The Spurs are an NBA-best 22-2 since Feb. 1 and clinched their first playoff berth since 2019 last Thursday. They are in second place in the Western Conference and just three games back of the defending champion Thunder, who have maintained a grip on first place behind a 12-game win streak.

The combination of the Spurs’ victory over Miami and Houston’s 132-124 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Monday allowed San Antonio to clinch the Southwest Division title.

For the Spurs, 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama has re-established the franchise and lifted it back into title contention. Wembanyama had 26 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks in 26 minutes at Miami for his fourth 26-15-5 game of the season. Only one other player — injured Memphis big man Zach Edey — has posted a 26-15-5 game this season. That came in November before ankle issues sidelined him for the year.

Wembanyama, 22, has had 11 games this season with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds. The third-year pro averages 24.3 points, 11.2 rebounds and a league-best 3.0 blocks per game.

“He is something that we haven’t seen,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “He affects as much of the game, in every single way, on the court on both ends with or without the ball and what the other team tries to do on both sides, in my very ignorant opinion, as much as any player I’ve ever seen. He is someone who touches every bit of our program.”

Memphis dropped a 146-107 decision to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday for its third straight loss and 11th in 12 games.

Without rotation players Cam Spencer (low back soreness), Javon Small (low back soreness) and rookie Cedric Coward (personal reasons), the Grizzlies were not competitive in the loss. They trailed by 10 at the end of the first quarter and 71-46 at halftime. The Hawks scored 45 points in the third and built a 116-75 advantage entering the final quarter.

Memphis got 26 points from GG Jackson along with 20 points and eight rebounds from Tyler Burton off the bench. Burton was signed to a second 10-day contract earlier this week, as was DeJon Jarreau, to assist the Grizzlies in piecing together a roster to close out their injury-plagued season.

But with star guard Ja Morant likely out the rest of the season with an elbow injury he sustained in late January — he has appeared in only 20 games this season — and with surgeries ending the seasons for Edey, Scotty Pippen Jr. (toe) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (finger), the Grizzlies’ final 11 games will be challenging.

Monday night might have been a blueprint. The undersized Grizzlies were outrebounded 44-34 by the Hawks and committed 21 turnovers, 10 more than Atlanta. The Hawks made 25 of 54 3-point attempts.

“We had too many turnovers and we couldn’t rebound against them,” Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “And on top of that, they capitalized in transition and shot the ball very well.”