Victor Wembanyama has 18 points, seven blocks as Spurs ease past Grizzlies 102-87

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- — Victor Wembanyama had 18 points, seven blocks, seven rebounds and six assists, Julian Champagnie added 17 points, and the San Antonio Spurs rode a third-quarter outburst to a 102-87 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.

Sandro Mamukelashvili added a career-best 16 rebounds along with 11 points as the Spurs snapped a 13-game losing streak to the Grizzlies. San Antonio had not beaten Memphis since Dec. 23, 2020. Blake Wesley scored 13 points.

Jordan Goodwin had a career-best 19 rebounds while scoring 10 points for the Grizzlies. Brandon Clarke, Scotty Pippen Jr. and Trey Jemison each had 14 points for Memphis.

The Spurs led 49-48 at halftime, then blew the game open in the third quarter. San Antonio began the period with a 25-9 run and led 77-61 heading into the fourth.

“We all wanted to win this game,” Mamukelashvili said, also mentioning the Spurs tough loss to Philadelphia on Sunday. “We came out (after halftime) and picked up our defense.”

Whether it was the Spurs' defense or poor shooting, Memphis made only four shots in the third, missing seven of eight 3-point attempts.

“We were just kind of out of sorts throughout the game,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said, adding that his team had little response to the Spurs third-quarter play.

“Our offense just got slow,” Jemison said of the third-quarter difference, adding: “Transition killed us. They were getting dunk after dunk after dunk. That's a momentum killer.”

San Antonio stretched its lead to 20 points in the fourth.

Both teams lost all hope of making the postseason some time ago. Memphis is 13th in the Western Conference; San Antonio sits at the bottom in 15th.

The teams are instead looking toward the draft lottery with optimism for next season. Wembanyama and his teammates will have a year's experience and growth. Memphis is hoping to avoid the injuries that have plagued its stars and key reserves most of this season.

That trend continued Tuesday night with 13 Memphis players not dressing, leading to the Grizzlies using their 50th starting lineup this season.

As has been the case most of the season, Memphis was without star players like Ja Morant, Demond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. Marcus Smart remained out, as did Derrick Rose.

The Spurs had a half dozen players out with various ailments, including three of their top four scorers — Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan.

But they had Wembanyama guarding the middle making Memphis leery of going to the rim. That hurdle and the resulting outside shots contributed to a 35% shooting night for the Grizzlies. After a season of Wembanyama's performance, Jenkins says talk of his potential is almost passe.

“The hype label has got to go because he’s proven it already in his rookie campaign,” Jenkins said of Wembanyama before the game. “It’s unbelievable to even talk about what his potential is and what he’s going to be like next year. What he’s already accomplished in his rookie season. There’s definitely the awe."

For the Spurs, reaching their 20th win wasn't necessarily a goal. After the All-Star break, improvement the rest of the season was the focus. Champagnie said San Antonio is making strides to reach that point.

“After All-Star, our goal wasn't wins. It wasn't getting as many wins as we could to make it look good because 20-59 does not look good,” Champagnie said. “But our goal was to become better as a unit.”

UP NEXT

Spurs: At Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

Grizzlies: At Cleveland on Wednesday.

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