BOSTON — As the Philadelphia 76ers move on from a loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday, their next challenge comes in the form of 7-foot-4 San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama.
Averaging 23.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists along with a league-leading 2.9 blocks per game, Wembanyama is leading the Spurs to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. San Antonio has not reached the playoffs since 2019 and Wemby has the Spurs on the verge of ending that streak in 2026.
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As the Sixers look to prepare for Wemby, they have to hope their defensive schemes can slow him down after having issues with Celtics big man Neemias Queta on Sunday.
“Obviously, he’s an incredible player,” coach Nick Nurse said of Wembanyama after the loss on Sunday. “They’ve actually, obviously, got a very good team that’s playing incredibly well. They’re one of the hottest teams in the league. Obviously, I’ve watched him a bunch. I haven’t dug in deep yet on it. We’ll just start doing that here on the way home tonight, but yeah, I would imagine we’re gonna have to figure out who to guard him with, and probably be a number of guys to take that challenge, and then hopefully we can continue to play some good offense and make a few more shots.”
Nurse did believe the Sixers generated enough good looks to win on Sunday, but the shots just didn’t drop. That’s going to happen at times. Philadelphia shot just 39.8% which was compounded by being out-rebounded 59-37 and giving up 30 second-chance points. That is something that will hold Philadelphia back against the Spurs.
Andre Drummond will likely be the one matched up with Wembanyama often on Tuesday as Joel Embiid will remain sidelined. His focus is on winning. Not the matchup with Wemby.
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“Winning the game,” Drummond said after a pause. “Winning the game. I mean, obviously, he’s the best player on his team, but my focus, and I think our team’s focus, is just finding out how to beat this team. I feel like they’re a great team. We’re a great team. So, we’re gonna go out there and play to the best of our ability.”
As Nurse mentioned, the Spurs aren’t just Wembanyama. San Antonio is receiving strong play from fellow All-Star De’Aaron Fox as well as Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, and others. The Sixers will have to be ready.
“Spurs are one of the best teams in the league,” added rookie VJ Edgecombe. “Obviously, they got great talent across the board. Let’s move on from this game. Learn from it. Know who we play next and try to get back on the winning track. That’s the main thing. It’s a long season. The season is coming down to the end, and these wins are really important, especially if you want to make the playoffs and get good seeding, so yeah. No matter who we play. We got to go and we got to play hard regardless of anybody.”
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: 76ers give thoughts on impending matchup with Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
