The San Antonio Spurs could finally celebrate a special day on 15 December as they ended their heartbreaking franchise-record 18-game losing streak since 2 November by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers on a 129-115 scoreline.
When the starters for the Spurs checked out with 1:40 time remaining, they knew that it was going to be a confirmed victory. The star players Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell walked to the end of the bench, high-fived their teammates, and then went on to share a long embrace.
Vassell expressed how “A hundred percent it didn’t feel like a normal win.” He went on to explain how excited the team was: “You see people jumping around on the sideline and everything…I’m trying to stay composed. But at the end of the day, it’s special. This is a special group.”
The Lakers, who were successful in upsetting the Spurs on Wednesday even without LeBron James in the starting lineup, had met on the court two times within three nights. For the game on Friday, James was back, but the team did not have D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Davis, and Cam Reddish in their lineup due to nagging injuries.
Wembanyama expressed how it “Kind of felt like a playoff game to me,” but he also added, “But of course, we have to feel good about it. We love that feeling. We want to repeat it, so yeah, we’re going to keep working our ass off.”
Wembanyama finished with 13 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals, while Vassell scored a career-high 36 points on 15 December. With this, Wembanyama now equals Davis for the most multi-block, multi-steal games in the NBA this season, each having done it 5 times.
Additionally, it marked the fourth time a rookie for the Spurs had ended a game with at least 10 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists, as before this, David Robinson did it twice, and Tim Duncan did it once. San Antonio had last won on 2 November against the Phoenix Suns, where a tie game late in the fourth quarter was led to a victory for the Spurs by Wembanyama.
LeBron James, who finished with 23 points, 14 assists, and 7 rebounds on 15 December, played a total of 36 minutes, as the match saw the first meeting between the No. 1 overall pick from the 2003 NBA draft and the No. 1 overall pick from 2023, Victor Wembanyama.
NBA’s Longest Loss Streaks
In the 2013-14 season, the Philadelphia 76ers set the highest record of consecutive match losses in a single season, tying with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ streak of 26 losses from 2010-11.
This is closely followed by the Bobcats, now known as the Charlotte Hornets, losing 23 matches in 2011-12. Along with them, the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Denver Nuggets also struggled with their own respective 23 losing streaks in the 1995-96 and the 1997-98 seasons.
The Detroit Pistons are also on their 22-loss streak, the longest in the 2023-24 season, after a crushing defeat on 15 December by the Philadelphia 76ers.
What is the NBA?
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the major professional basketball-themed sports leagues in North America, and it is composed of 29 American and 1 Canadian teams. Founded in New York City on 6 June 1946, it is now considered to be the premier professional basketball league in the world.
The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are the two teams with the most NBA championships amongst all the teams, each 17-time champion. The reigning league champions from the 2022-23 season are the Denver Nuggets, who defeated the Miami Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals.
As the fourth wealthiest professional sports league in the entire world, the matches are broadcast on several channels like ESPN in America and TSN in Canada, along with its own sports-oriented television network called NBA TV.
