Is Victor Wembanyama playing tonight against New Orleans Pelicans? Latest on reigning ROY's availability (Dec. 8)
The San Antonio Spurs are sweating on Victor Wembanyama’s status ahead of their crunch clash against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. The Spurs' losing streak extended to three games with a defeat to the OKC Thunder on Saturday. Now, the Spurs will face the Pelicans, desperately needing to turn things around.
Wembanyama missed the team's last two games due to lower back soreness he suffered against the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 4. He is listed as "questionable" for Sunday's home game and will be evaluated later to determine if he can start in this important game against the conference's bottom-dwellers.
Wembanyama has been on and off the injury report this season, despite having a stellar season. He has already missed five of 23 games this season.
The Spurs' (11-12) vulnerabilities in the absence of Wembanyama are well known. When he's not on the floor, the team's performance automatically looks mediocre. A perfect example is the recent matchup between the Spurs and the Sacramento Kings on Friday. Wemby scored 34 points on Dec. 2 in a 127-125 win over the Kings, but without him, they lost by a large margin of 113-140 on Friday.
The reigning Rookie of the Year leads the Spurs in points, rebounds and blocks, averaging 23.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.4 blocks.
In an era in which players are being asked to do one thing efficiently, having a player like 7'4′′ Wembanyama who can combine comfort in shooting, dunking, dribbling, exceptional defense is like gold dust for any team.
For a team like Spurs looking to establish consistency and sustain a playoff challenge, the presence of Wembanyama and surrounding him with the right players will be pivotal.
Victor Wembanyama’s stats vs New Orleans Pelicans
Victor Wembanyama has only played three games against the Pelicans, going 1-2 in one season. He's averaging 16.7 points, 13.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game against them.
This will be the first meeting between the two Western Conference teams this season.
What to expect from Pelicans vs Spurs?
If the Spurs' injury issues are a one-man show, then their opponents are facing a tsunami,with a long list of absentees that shows no sign of shrinking anytime soon. Given the key players' absence and differences in form and league position, the hosts will be quietly confident of their chances at taking the win this time, even without their main man.