04/06/26 11:03:00
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04/06 23:02 CDT Wembanyama suffers left rib contusion vs 76ers, his status for
last 3 regular-season games unknown
Wembanyama suffers left rib contusion vs 76ers, his status for last 3
regular-season games unknown
SAN ANTONIO (AP) --- Victor Wembanyama suffered a left rib contusion and was
ruled out of the second half of San Antonio's 115-102 win over Philadelphia on
Monday night, leaving the status of the Spurs' center for the rest of the
regular season in doubt.
Wembanyama took an inadvertent elbow to the ribs from Paul George when the
Philadelphia forward was attempting to deflect a pass as the 7-foot-4 Frenchman
was sprinting up court on a fastbreak with 10:49 remaining in the first half.
Wembanyama tumbled to the court and remained down for a minute while George
patted him on the backside apologetically.
Whether Wembanyama will be available for the Spurs' final three games of the
regular season --- all at home --- against Portland (Wednesday), Dallas
(Friday) and Denver (Sunday) wasn't known after Monday's game.
"At halftime I was told he wasn't coming back and I honest to God haven't heard
anything else up to this point," San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said after the
win.
Wembanyama subbed out of the game 13 seconds after the collision and
immediately went into the tunnel leading to the locker room while keeping his
arm pressed to his side.
Wembanyama returned with 5:33 remaining in the period, but asked Johnson to
take him out with 44 seconds remaining in the first half. He again went into
the tunnel leading to the locker room while holding his arm to his side and was
ruled out at the start the second half.
"I think it would be a positive that he felt like he could come back and he
played the last four or five minutes of the half," Johnson said. "So, that's a
positive from my perspective, but I have nothing (as far a status update)."
George was not available for comment after the game.
Wembanyama had 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks while playing 15:40 in
the first half.
Wembanyama has made it clear that he wants to win the league's MVP award this
season. The NBA allows a maximum of two games in which a player logs between 15
and 19.59 minutes to count toward the league-required minimum of 65 games
played for award eligibility.
Wembanyama has played 63 games this season, including the NBA Cup Final.
San Antonio (60-19) is is 2 1/2 games behind Western Conference-leading
Oklahoma City (62-16) and assured of finishing no worse than second in the
conference.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
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