San Antonio Spurs @ LA Clippers
Sunday, October 29, 2023 at 9:00 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA | Game ID: 22300099
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAC 23 33 37 30 123SAS 17 20 23 23 83
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Road rookie: Leonard and George school Wembanyama in 1st away game, Clippers rout Spurs 123-83
LOS ANGELES -- — It didn't take long for Victor Wembanyama to find out the road can be a tough place in the NBA.
Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points, Paul George added 19 and the Los Angeles Clippers’ stars schooled the Spurs rookie in his first game away from home, a 123-83 rout of San Antonio on Sunday night.
Wembanyama was held to 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and one block. He committed five of the Spurs’ season-worst 25 turnovers.
“It's not about how bad the struggles are going to be, but how persistent we're going to be,” the 19-year-old said, sounding wise beyond his years.
It was a letdown for Wembanyama after he scored 15 points in a loss to Dallas in his NBA debut last week. He followed up with 21 points in an overtime victory against Houston.
“I wouldn't see any reason to be frustrated three games into the season, but it is a learning experience,” he said.
Russell Westbrook had 19 points and Ivica Zubac scored 16 for the Clippers, who had seven players in double figures. Westbrook and Zubac had a team-high eight rebounds apiece.
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 14 points and Cedi Osman added 12 off the bench.
“It sucks losing by 40 points,” Vassell said. “I feel like we played scared. We can't play on our heels.”
Wembanyama was the only Spurs starter on the court to start the fourth, when they trailed 93-60. But he checked out for good after playing 26 minutes and clapped for his teammates from the bench.
“He's going to be good,” Leonard said. “I felt like he got a more aggressive mentality as he started the season off.”
Westbrook — the French teenager's favorite player growing up — delivered a knee to Wembanyama's thigh in the third. The 19-year-old made 1 of 2 free throws, capping a stretch in which he scored five of the Spurs' seven points to leave them trailing 77-48.
“They're my idols, but they're still my opponent,” Wembanyama said of Leonard, Paul and Westbrook.
After drawing a crowd to his warmup an hour before tipoff, Wembanyama got off to a mixed start. The 7-foot-3 star had a turnover on the Spurs' first possession, blocked Zubac and then missed two free throws.
“Everybody's going to be physical with him and try to knock him off-balance,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He's got to get used to that.”
Wembanyama tapped in an alley-oop pass from Zach Collins for his only two points of the first quarter. The Spurs were down by 12 before scoring their first points in the second on Wembanyama's hook.
“I think he got a deflection on Russ, not even guarding Russ but just back tip,” George said. “There are just certain plays that stand out where you’re like, ‘Wow.’ There’s only two guys maybe in the league that can do that.”
The Clippers led by 21 in the second quarter before Westbrook hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to send them into halftime ahead 56-37. He slapped hands with fans in the front row.
The Clippers raced to a 20-7 start, with George scoring nine points. His five steals were the most in a quarter in his career.
UP NEXT
Spurs: Visit Phoenix on Tuesday in the first of two in a row against the Suns.
Clippers: Host Orlando on Tuesday to end a stretch in which they play three of their first four games at home.
SAS KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
SASBW B. Wesley
CB C. Bassey
CO C. Osman
DM D. McDermott
DV D. Vassell
JC J. Champagnie
JS J. Sochan
KJ K. Johnson
MB M. Branham
SM S. Mamukelashvili
TJ T. Jones
VW V. Wembanyama
ZC Z. Collins
LACAC A. Coffey
BH B. Hyland
DI Diabate
IZ I. Zubac
KB K. Brown
KL K. Leonard
KM K. Martin
MD M. Diabaté
MP M. Plumlee
NB N. Batum
NP N. Powell
PG P. George
RC R. Covington
RW R. Westbrook
SAS/LAC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur