Carter Bryant gives loud response to way-too-common Spurs criticism

There were concerns about how the Spurs would manage in their first full playoff game without Victor Wembanyama. There were even more questions around how Carter Bryant would perform in his absence with increased minutes and significant reps as a small-ball five.

It wasn't pretty the entire way through, but there were still a ton of bright spots that we saw from the first-year man out of Arizona. Mitch Johnson trusted him enough to throw him into the fire, forcing him to translate his regular-season reps into the highly pressured postseason stage.

It's a call that's difficult for a lot of young players to answer, but Carter looked fearless in Game 3, taking his punches in stride and growing as the game went on.

Carter Bryant made a massive defensive impact

The biggest point of concern in Wemby's absence is losing his defensive impact. Bryant did his best to make up for that, showing some great signs on that side of the floor in Game 3. He set the tone early in the first quarter upon being subbed in, coming out the gate aggressively with two huge altered shots at the rim.

In the second half, we saw him take some on-ball defensive duties, including against Deni Avdija and Scoot Henderson. He had some amazing moments, particularly in the fourth quarter. He was either forcing them into tough looks or turnovers, which was a massive swing factor that turned the game in San Antonio's favor.

Now, there were still things to clean up. He had some communication issues defensively and also gave up a few easy looks, but the former Arizona forward showed amazing promise as a potential elite stopper on the playoff stage.

Bryant showed some offensive promise

Through the majority of the game, Bryant operated as a hub on the offensive end. There were some good moments, particularly with his playmaking. He dished out four assists, including some crucial finds in the fourth quarter.

One thing that I, along with the rest of the Spurs fandom, wanted to see more of was his confidence as a shooter. I can count on multiple sets of hands how many open looks he passed from downtown. He has solid mechanics, and he did have great moments from range through the season, so sometimes you have to let it fly.

Luckily, there was a huge three-pointer from him in the fourth quarter off the bounce, where he looked very decisive and intentional. Carrying that energy into the rest of the series will be huge. The more he can make defenses respect him as a shooter, the more offense it opens up for this team.

All in all, Bryant looked very impressive in the biggest game (so far) of his NBA career, stepping up into a bit of an uncomfortable role and still making an impact for his team on both ends. Are there improvements to make? Absolutely, but the flashes of potential that we saw in Game 3 were very promising.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow