11 Straight: Looking at the San Antonio Spurs’ Early Season Surge

Victor Wembanyama scored 12 points against the Golden State Warriors in today’s matchup. San Antonio still won by 38.

For a team built around one of basketball’s most overwhelming individual talents, that might be the most otherworldly number of all.

The Spurs’ 123–85 victory extended their winning streak to 11 games after an 0–2 start following the heartbreak of last year’s NBA Finals. Wembanyama played just under 21 minutes. Why? Stephon Castle supplied 32 points. San Antonio finished with 34 assists against 9 turnovers.

Across their current winning streak, the Spurs have outscored opponents by 188 points with an average margin of 17.1. Eight victories have come by double digits and five by at least 20 points. Six have come on the road.

Winning 11 straight requires surviving some uncomfortable nights. San Antonio has thrived in those situations, while mostly making those nights uncomfortable for the opposing side.

Elite Defense for San Antonio

In their last 10 games the Spurs are first in offensive rating at 124.3 and second in defensive rating at 106.8. Its reported net rating of plus-17.6 leads the league over that window, just ahead of the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves.

San Antonio ranks only 12th in effective field-goal percentage over those 10 games, at 54.3%. Its offense has reached the top without extraordinary shooting, which speaks to their unique advantages. The Spurs have the lowest turnover rate, 9.7%, and rank fifth in offensive rebounding percentage, recovering 30.9% of available offensive rebounds.

That gives their offense room for error. A missed jumper can become another opportunity, or should we say, Wemby.

Defensively, opponents have managed a league-low 48.9% effective field-goal percentage in that window. San Antonio also ranks fifth in defensive rebounding percentage at 75.9%.

Unstoppable Wembanyama

Across their 11-game winning streak, Wembanyama has averaged 30.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 4.3 blocks. (Side note: as someone who has him in one of my fantasy teams this season, I am beyond grateful.)

Before the Warriors game, Wembanyama’s paint touches had risen from 6.9 per game last season to 10.2, an increase of roughly 48%. Through 13 games, stat.space places approximately 43% of his attempts at the rim, up from 36% last season.

That’s been a key debate when discussing Wemby’s offensive package in recent years: is he getting close enough to the rim, where he is un-guardable for a variety of reasons? He is now spending more of his shot diet where his dimensions become particularly unreasonable.

His season scoring has increased from 25.0 to 28.8 points per game, with virtually no change in playing time: 29.2 minutes last season, 29.3 now. His true shooting percentage stands at 62.8%, even with his three-point percentage at 31.5%, a number that should go up, but is no longer as necessary for his overall impact.

The five games preceding their win vs. Golden State illustrated his ceiling: 36.6 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 5.0 blocks per game, on 66% shooting, in approximately 28 minutes a night. With all due respect to the flamboyant Luka Doncic, who’s been on a tear of his own, Wemby is currently the league leader for NBA MVP.

San Antonio Has Depth

Against Golden State, the Spurs proved their overall punch goes beyond just the French superstar.

Castle delivered 32 points on 12-for-18 shooting, including five threes in eight attempts, with six assists and one turnover. Wembanyama contributed six assists himself.

Dylan Harper has supplied another dependable source of creation, averaging 17.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists through 13 games while shooting 49.7%.

In a recently win at Chicago, Harper and De’Aaron Fox combined for 35 points and 19 assists.

Eleven games cannot establish how this offense will respond to every playoff defense, especially the deeper they go in their potential path back to the finals, and, maybe this time, championship glory.

They do tell a convincing early identity: protect the ball, recover misses, deny efficient shots, and put Wembanyama in positions where the defense has the fewest good answers, if any at all.