AUSTIN, Texas — Dylan Harper has seen it play out a million times in his head. Somehow, the one scenario where Victor Wembanyama doesn't score played out in real time.
With five seconds to play in Friday night's "Road to I-35" meeting between the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets at Moody Center, Stephon Castle found De'Aaron Fox in the near corner on the inbound. Before one second had passed, the ball was already en route to Wembanyama in the paint. His back was to from the basket, fending off Amen Thompson.
"(I was) looking for space," Wembanyama said, "but they didn't really leave any space. So, I feel like at this point, it's shoot to score. Get a shot up and shoot to score."
Wembanyama received the pass in his right hand, turned over the same shoulder and lunged at the basket. Thompson met him at the rim, blocked his shot and kept the Rockets' perfect start to the season alive. The Spurs, meanwhile, remained winless.
"That's a freakish athletic play," Harper told reporters after San Antonio's 114-110 loss. "I mean, that's one out of a million times I think anyone's going to do that."
He continued: "I definitely thought ... that was going to be an automatic two points."
Just before the final inbound, Wembanyama corralled a miss by Rockets center Alperen Şengün on the other end of the floor and began working his way toward mid-court.
Mitch Johnson, who isn't shy about letting the Spurs play through offensive possessions in late-game scenarios, might have considered allowing it this time, too. But as Wembanyama slowed up approaching the center circle, he thought the Frenchman needed help.
"In that split second, when Victor had the ball," Johnson explained, "he looked like he was looking around for someone to pass to ... I didn't necessarily see if someone sprung free."
Had Johnson gone against his instinct, Wembanyama's moving, one-legged 3-pointer that banked off the glass in the seconds that followed might have counted, though both Thompson and Fred VanVleet didn't contest him after hearing a whistle blow the play dead.
Hypothetical scenarios aside, the Spurs know better than to pretend their second loss of the season only happened because of Thompson's incredible defense on the last play.
"That's the game of basketball," Harper said. "I feel like we've had many opportunities to go on runs or whatnot ... to put an imprint on the game, and we did it too late."
Entering Friday's contest, the Spurs hoped to establish more of an offensive rhythm after struggling mightily against the Oklahoma City Thunder on opening night. Wembanyama vowed not to overthink his scoring. In that regard, he did see personal improvement.
He also sees a lot of room for the Spurs to continue to improve this season.
"I think we showed a better face," Wembanyama said. "We need to stop getting down ... double digits. We made some mistakes that were very costly. This is our problem. We work hard. We work hard for a time, and then we blow away what we have. But it was better."
The Spurs knocked down two more 3s, scored more in transition and in the paint than the Rockets. The costly mistakes Wembanyama mentioned came on the glass.
Houston's advantage on the boards, even by a margin of just four, proved costly for San Antonio. Even when the Spurs found momentum, they couldn't consistently prevent the Rockets from getting additional opportunities. They couldn't create more for themselves.
Still, Johnson saw a marked difference between his team's first two performances.
"We haven't been sharp," the coach said. "So, I really commend the group tonight. I thought our competitiveness and our effort was a plus."
Wembanyama agreed with his coach. And while he wishes the improvements seen on Friday came earlier — in the preseason, he suggested — he recognizes the time it will take to settle in again, especially with a new starting lineup featuring three point guards.
"We're getting used to playing with each other again," Wembanyama said.
If the same scenario were to unfold at the end of the other 80 games San Antonio still has to play, Harper is confident Wembanyama would cash in his two points. Perhaps, then, Thompson made one of the best defensive plays the Spurs will see all season.
Wembanyama was careful not to let himself make an excuse for the way Friday ended. But asked if he would have done anything differently, he said yes in a matter of seconds.
"I would have dunked the ball," he said.
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