Victor Wembanyama Says Game Feels Fast Amid Struggles vs. Lakers
After a strong start to the season, Victor Wembanyama faced another challenging night as the San Antonio Spurs fell 118–116 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. The young star admitted that the pace of the game feels different as opponents adjust their defenses to limit his impact.
"The game feels fast right now," Wembanyama said. "Personally, I haven't seen this kind of defense from teams, so we need to adapt as a collective. In the Phoenix game, it was the case as well. We're learning."
Wembanyama pointed to the frequency of double teams as a key challenge during the matchup.
"Mostly, it was the doubling," he explained. "They probably practiced all our situations in shootaround because they looked very ready. It felt like they let me catch the ball but were prepared to double and rotate immediately."
The Lakers held Wembanyama to 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting, with eight rebounds and five turnovers in 33 minutes of play. He fouled out with under two minutes remaining, with the Spurs trailing 113–112.
San Antonio still had a late chance to tie the game when Julian Champagnie drew a foul on Jake LaRavia in the final second, but Champagnie missed both free throws, sealing the Lakers' win. This was the second time in the first seven games of the season that Wembanyama fouled out, already surpassing his total from his previous two seasons combined.
Author’s Summary
Wembanyama admitted the NBA game pace feels faster as defenses target him with constant double-teams, causing his early-season performance to dip during Spurs' narrow loss to the Lakers.