The San Antonio Spurs will be without at least one of their back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners when they host the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.
The Spurs got back on the winning track with a 123-110 home victory over struggling Sacramento on Sunday. De’Aaron Fox poured in 28 points and dished out 11 assists against the Kings, his former team, to lead a parade of seven San Antonio players in double-figure scoring.
The win ended a two-game losing streak and was attained without the services of 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year and star center Victor Wembanyama, who missed his first game of the season because of left calf tightness.
San Antonio plans to shut down Wembanyama for the next few weeks. He had started the first 12 games for the Spurs after missing 36 games last season when he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder.
Wembanyama leads the Spurs in scoring with 26.2 points per game. He is the league leader in blocks (3.6 per game) and ranks second in rebounding (12.9).
Stephon Castle, last season’s top rookie, missed the second half of Sunday’s win with a hip injury. Castle has raised his game another notch by averaging 17.3 points, 7.5 assists and 5.8 rebounds while shooting nearly 50% from the floor, up from 42.8% in his maiden campaign.
Castle’s availability for Tuesday is yet to be determined.
Harrison Barnes added 20 points for San Antonio on Sunday, while Devin Vassell finished with 16. Keldon Johnson registered 14 points and 12 rebounds, Luke Kornet tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds, Julian Champagnie hit for 12 points and Jeremy Sochan poured in 11 as the Spurs led for all but the game’s opening minute.
“With us, it’s just always been about our depth,” Barnes said after the win. “I think we talked about that at the beginning of the season. Everyone just finding that time throughout the season, everyone’s going to have to win games for us and so it was great to see everyone step up as a collective.”
Tuesday’s outing is the fourth of a five-game homestand for San Antonio that concludes with a clash against Atlanta on Thursday. The Spurs will then play seven of their next eight games on the road, including visits to Portland, Denver, Minnesota, Orlando and Cleveland.
The Grizzlies hit the Alamo City after losing star point guard Ja Morant to a right calf strain in their 108-100 loss at Cleveland on Saturday. Morant, who played in 12 of Memphis’ first 14 games, is set to be evaluated in two weeks.
Morant’s departure exacerbated the issues the Grizzlies have at the point as Scotty Pippen Jr. (toe), Ty Jerome (calf) and Javon Small (toe) are all out because of injuries.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 26 points and Santi Aldama produced 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who led by 11 points but could not overcome a poor fourth quarter, where they were outscored 32-16.
Memphis has dropped four straight games and eight of its past nine.
Zach Edey, who had left ankle surgery in June, finished with 13 points in his season debut.
“The performance from Zach brought a lot to us,” Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “(He) dominated the boards with a physical presence. Our rim protection was at a completely different level than it has been so far this season, so that’s a great sign.
“There were overall a lot of positives in this performance. It was a big step up from (last Wednesday’s) Boston game, and we competed hard but it wasn’t enough.”
