By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Overcoming a rough night for Victor Wembanyama against the defensive tactics of Serbian head coach Darko Rajakovic, the San Antonio Spurs edged out the Toronto Raptors, 110-107, in Scotiabank Arena.
Lasting 30 minutes on Wednesday, the 22-year-old French center was held to 12 points on 3/12 field goals. His efforts added eight rebounds, five blocks, three assists, and one steal. His fifth rejection to stop Jakob Poeltl with 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter was key in securing a tenth consecutive win in the 2025-26 NBA Regular Season.
“I thought that on a back-to-back, playing against such a good team, we gave them a hell of a fight over there. I thought we did a really, really good job, made it really hard on their main guys, as well as you can do against Wembanyama,” explained 47-year-old Rajakovic in a postgame press conference, referring to Tuesday’s loss opposite the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After sitting out the first half of the back-to-back due to injury management, Austria’s Poeltl bounced back, coming off the bench behind rookie Collin Murray-Boyles. With the new starting center limited to 15 minutes due to a sore left thumb, 30-year-old Poeltl logged 28, registering 15 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and one steal.
“I think our focus was to be physical with them in general, particularly Wemby. Because we know when he finds his rhythm, when he can play free, he’s a really good basketball player, a really good shot-maker,” said the Austrian center on the team plan to contain Wemby.
In additional European reserve action for the team coached by Rajakovic, Georgia’s Sandro Mamukelashvili finished with two points and three rebounds.