SAN ANTONIO — As soon as Victor Wembanyama heard the sigh of the crowd, he untucked his jersey, trotted to the sideline and patted his sharpshooter on the back.
Julian Champagnie missed the mark by a few inches. Had it fallen, the San Antonio Spurs would have won their fourth straight playoff fame and taken a 1-0 series lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Instead, they left empty-handed facing an early deficit.
“Missed a shot,” Champagnie said, speaking on his final 3-pointer in Game 1, adding that it felt “solid” coming off his hands. “That’s all I got. On to the next.”
The Spurs had much more to point to beyond a missed 3-pointer at the final buzzer on Monday night. Between Wembanyama’s 11 points and De’Aaron Fox’s six turnovers, offensive struggles sank any chance they had at protecting home court.
Neither star needed to be reminded in the hours that followed.
“We know when we play bad and when we play well,” Fox told reporters in the locker room following the loss. “I don’t need to hear it from somebody else.”
Admitted Wembanyama: “I didn’t have the grasp on the game.”
Per NBA’s advanced analytics, the Spurs created open shots on 61 of their 87 shot attempts in Game 1. Wembanyama and Fox combining to shoot 10-for-31 from the field with 21 points would not have led any viewer to that conclusion, which raises a few questions.
Is Minnesota suffocating enough on defense to force a plethora of missed shots? Did the added physcality disrupt both players’ natural shooting motions?
Wembanyama offered another theory. Beyond simply “making more shots.”
“I have to use (a lot of) my energy, obviously, on one side of the court.” he said. “On the other side, I used too much energy on things that didn’t really help our team.”
Each time Wembanyama attempted a block — he accrued an NBA playoff record 12 in Game 1 — pieces of his legs went with him. Several of the 7-footer’s shots came up short, preventing the Spurs from adding points to their otherwise successful transition attack.
Fox, who led San Antonio with six turnovers, preferred to shoulder the blame himself. As the Spurs’ resident max point guard, he acknowledged his own expectations.
“It wasn’t really anything that they did,” the 27-year-old said in the locker room. “I mean, that’s a good defensive team. But this game in particular, I think it was all me.”
Stephon Castle was the first to give Minnesota credit for its defensive prowess. Having watched his two stars score at will all season, Monday night marked a change of pace.
“They defended like that all year,” Castle said. “For (Wembanyama and Fox), they didn’t have good shooting nights, but I expect them to be better.”
Johnson echoed that sentiment. He made sure he was on record.
“I have no concern over De’Aaron Fox or Victor Wembanyama’s box score,” the coach said, doubling down on his confidence. “They’ll be better. We’ll be better for them.”
Watching film Tuesday morning, the Spurs noticed small details they could improve. With Anthony Edwards coming off the bench, they caught a break from the league’s third-best scorer. And if not for their supporting cast, Game 1 may have slipped away much sooner.
Considering that, the Spurs will prepare for Game 2 by refocusing on executing the game plan they’ve relied on all season rather than overhauling it.
“I feel like … pounding and pounding at the game plan is the biggest thing for us,” Dylan Harper said. “Just stick(ing) to our principles, playing our brand of basketball.”
This season, that’s meant turning to Wembanyama and Fox in a close game. Wednesday night will be no different, lest the Spurs risk changing their identity. Perhaps, in that regard, they have no choice but to feed the ball to their two stars.
Even then, that’s an outcome they don’t mind running back.
“Obviously, we have to be better,” Wembanyama said. “We need to figure out what we can do better, and I got no doubt that we will. I mean, I trust us.”
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