SAN ANTONIO— On the second night of a back-to-back, the San Antonio Spurs were unable to defeat the Orlando Magic.
They will be fighting exhaustion on Wednesday night.
The San Antonio Spurs will face Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets on the road in the third and final game of the season series. This time, however, the floor will seem very different.
Victor Wembanyama is currently healing from a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder and will be unable to compete. The 21-year-old underwent surgery to fix the issue, but the team has not released any information about his recovery.
“He’s doing very well,” said Spurs acting coach Mitch Johnson on Tuesday. “I think he would’ve wanted to be out on the court to block some shots and make some buckets for us … (but) we’ll keep it all in-house.”
Wembanyama played 46 games this season, averaging 24.3 points, 11 rebounds, and a league-leading 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 47 percent from the floor. He was on track for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award, a spot on one of three All-NBA teams, and maybe the league’s Most Improved Player of the Year award, but he now falls short of the newly mandated 65-game mark.
Aside from him, San Antonio will be missing De’Aaron Fox, who had surgery to correct ligament injury in his left pinkie, and Jeremy Sochan, who Johnson said will not accompany the club on the brief trip. Charles Bassey’s current condition is unknown.
The Spurs and Nuggets will face off at 9 p.m. EST in Ball Arena.
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