Victor Wembanyama limited by Lakers' double-teams in Spurs loss - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Spurs center Victor Wembanyama expressed confidence in slowing down a game that «feels fast right now» after the Lakers became the second straight opponent to hold him in check during a 118-116 San Antonio loss Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.

«Personally, I haven't seen this kind of defense from teams,» Wembanyama said. «So we need to adapt as a collective. In the Phoenix game, it was the case as well. We got stalled out sometimes. We're learning.»

Three days after the Suns handed the Spurs their first loss of the season, holding Wembanyama to his second career outing with fewer than 10 points (9) and at least 5 turnovers (6), the Lakers limited the Frenchman to 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting with 5 turnovers. Wembanyama fouled out with 1:40 to play in a game that two other Spurs, Harrison Barnes and Jeremy Sochan, left after accruing six fouls in the final 90 seconds.

With 0.2 seconds left to play, Julian Champagnie (14 points) missed the first of two potential game-tying free throws and purposely misfired on the second to give San Antonio one last opportunity to deadlock the contest, but Keldon Johnson's tip-in attempt didn't fall.

The Suns smothered Wembanyama with double-teams Sunday and pushed him off his spots on the floor while preventing touches deep in the paint. The Lakers employed a similar strategy Wednesday with the same result.

«Mostly, it was the doubling,» he said. «They were ready. They probably walked in shootaround through all our situations because it seemed like they were very ready. It felt like they let me catch the ball, but they were ready to double to rotate after that.»

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Wembanyama would be «fine» as they look to get him back on track offensively.

«We