Coverage of the 130-103 win over Sacramento has centered on Victor Wembanyama, Julian Champagnie and a starting five that finally got real minutes together. The Athletic went further and called the West the Spurs' to lose, a claim a 2-2 start cannot yet carry.
Is The Athletic right that the West is the Spurs' to lose?
The Athletic put it on a list of early trends to test, and the standings call for patience. San Antonio is 2-2, seventh in the West and a game behind Minnesota for sixth, and that pace projects to 41-41. The case for it rests on last season's 62-20 finish and Finals run, plus two straight wins by 16 and 27. Four games point to a good team, not yet a conference favorite.
Is Wembanyama really playing at the level the beat says?
Paul Garcia of The Spot Up Shot called the Kings game an All-NBA kind of night, and the box score agrees: 29 on 14-of-21 shooting, 10 rebounds, five blocks and two steals in 27 minutes, with no turnovers. Garcia counted 24 of those at the rim and five alley-oop finishes in each of the last two games. Pounding The Rock opened a thread on his climb among the league's blocks leaders. That ranking comes from their reporting.
Can this starting five hold up?
Garcia reported that the starters are plus-10 in 38 total minutes across four games, including plus-8 against Sacramento, and that Mitch Johnson kept them together for six straight minutes in the first quarter. That is a small sample. The box score backs up the night itself: Fox, Castle, Harper, Vassell and Wembanyama all finished plus-12 or better, and the starters outscored the bench 82-44. Harper led the team at plus-23 on 6-of-7 shooting.
Is Champagnie's shooting night repeatable?
Pounding The Rock wrote that Champagnie caught fire, and Garcia logged 24 first-half points on eight made threes. He finished with 26 off the bench, going 8-of-13 from deep in 25 minutes. Nothing in the record says he can keep that up, and a bench shooter at that volume has a hot night until he repeats it. The night did show what his range adds to a team that scored 60 in the paint, by Garcia's count.
Where do Fox and Carter Bryant fit into the debate?
Air Alamo argued that Fox's playmaking has been among the team's most valuable tools. Against Sacramento he had six assists against three turnovers in a plus-22 night, and Garcia counted 35 assists on 49 made baskets. Air Alamo also wrote that Bryant's outlook depends on something he can't control. The facts are plain: the Spurs picked up his 2027-28 option, and he closed the Kings game with the reserves.
When is Tobias Harris expected back for the Spurs?
Harris is still sidelined by his left calf, with an estimated return date of October 31, when the Spurs host Minnesota.
Who is starting for the Spurs right now?
Against Sacramento the starters were De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama. All five scored in double figures in the 130-103 win.
