March 03, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Victor Wembanyama tormented the Sixers on defense all night Tuesday.
PHILADELPHIA – The best development from the Sixers' home contest against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday: the final buzzer eventually and mercifully sounded.
From the opening tip to that final buzzer, Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs pummeled a Sixers team missing Joel Embiid (oblique) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (illness) in addition to the suspended Paul George. Both teams were coming off disappointing losses, but it was the 43-17 Spurs who played like they had something to prove and the 33-27 Sixers, clinging to the Eastern Conference's final surefire playoff spot, who completely floundered.
The Sixers opened Tuesday's game trailing 9-0. They never appeared competitive, as Tyrese Maxey was the only key player who had even a semblance of a decent performance. For much of the second half, fans were either hitting the exits or booing. Both of those options were understandable given what was happening on the floor. Adding insult to injury, VJ Edgecombe missed the second half after taking a hard fall on his lower back on the final play before intermission.
Takeaways from the Sixers' public humiliation in the form of a 131-91 loss to Wembanyama and the Spurs:
Wembanyama's first two games in Philadelphia were about as eventful as could be: first, Embiid scored 70 points against the then-rookie. Last season, Wembanyama got Andre Drummond erroneously ejected before Drummond was then un-ejected and Embiid got himself ejected. A chaotic game went all the way down to the wire, and Wembanyama's countryman Guerschon Yabusele helped the Sixers pull off one of their lone exciting victories of the season.
There is arguably no player in the history of the NBA like Wembanyama. His 7-foot-4 listing might be selling his height short; no human should have a wingspan as wide as his. Players blow by Spurs perimeter defenders, get into the paint and then immediately panic and backtrack when Wembanyama is on the floor. Before Tuesday's game, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse acknowledged his team had to be smart about driving, not just when Wembanyama is manning the paint, but when he is on the floor at all. In an instant, he can go from out of sight to swatting a shot with one long stride and one just-as-long reach.
Offensively, Wembanyama is perhaps known best for his limitless three-point shooting range, and while that remains a vital part of his shot profile, the 22-year-old has been much more aggressive around the basket this season. It is easy to understand; nobody can truly get a good contest in against Wembanyama, so why not get closer to the basket? He can dunk the ball without jumping and convert ridiculous alley-oops. There are moments when he seems truly unstoppable.
On the Sixers' very first possession of the game, Edgecombe initiated a drive against Wembanyama, and then the rookie known for being fearless retreated. The ball ended up in the hands of Drummond, whose repeated pump fakes did not deter Wembanyama. Wembanyama swatted his shot, then drew back-to-back fouls to send Drummond to the bench and summon Adem Bona. Wembanyama swatted an Edgecombe shot, then one from Maxey, then rejected Bona ... all inside of the first eight minutes.
Without attempting a single field goal, Wembanyama controlled the entire game in its opening minutes. When he returned to the action, Maxey tried to execute a simple entry pass over the top of his defender. The only problem: Wembanyama was his defender, so there was no going over the top. The crowd gasped as Wembanyama calmly plucked the ball out of the air for a steal.
Drummond returned to the game and foolishly attempted to get Wembanyama with another fake; Wembanyama stayed down and then blocked his shot and hit a three on his first shot of the game. Drummond then attempted and missed his fourth three of the second half, and as the boos began he bit brutally on a Wembanyama pump fake that led to a wide-open Spurs three. As the shot went in, Drummond needlessly shoved Wembanyama from behind, knocking him down and leading to a third foul. He checked out at that point, but it was not about foul trouble; Nurse already had Trendon Watford ready at the scorer's table to replace Drummond.
By halftime, the Sixers were shooting well below 40 percent from the field, and the game was clearly over. Wembanyama was so dominant defensively that he did not need to expend much energy on the offensive end of the floor, where the attention he was drawing helped open up great looks for several supporting cast members. His defensive exploits continued for as long as the Spurs needed him on the floor, which was not much longer at all.
Some additional notes:
• As rookie No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper shined with a game-high 11 points in the opening frame, it was hard not to think about how prolific the top of the 2025 NBA Draft class looks so far. Cooper Flagg has largely met expectations as a transcendent top pick, and while Harper has not had nearly as many opportunities to play as Edgecombe and No. 4 pick Kon Knueppel, he has been a reliable rotation contributor for one of the league's elite teams. The top four of this class could be an all-time great one.
• After a challenging and inefficient six-game stretch to begin his second stint with the Sixers, Cam Payne gave his team a solid early lift, knocking down a pair of threes and scoring 10 points in a lengthy first-half stint that helped Nurse keep Maxey on the bench for a bit longer than he might have otherwise.
• Justin Edwards, in the rotation to help make up for Oubre's absence, has a knack for knocking down early shots, and he connected on triples on his first two touches of this game. Edwards had a signature performance early in the season, but ever since he has struggled mightily to find his footing after an extremely encouraging rookie campaign.
• A rare miss on the margins for the Sixers: the team waived Julian Champagnie after two games with the team as a two-way player during the 2022-23 season, and he has since become a stellar role player on an extremely team-friendly contract in San Antonio. Champagnie is a starter for the Spurs and provides high-caliber three-point shooting.
Up next: There is no time to rest for the Sixers, who will be back in action on Wednesday night when they play host to the Utah Jazz.
