Spurs severely compromised by injury for national TV clash with Giannis & Bucks

The Spurs and the Bucks will meet tonight in a battle that can be compared to an Alien vs. Predator remake. Two of the league's freakishly built and absurdly talented players get to play center stage on ESPN for their second meeting since Victor Wembanyama crash-landed in San Antonio for a rookie season for the ages.

Their first meeting—just over a year ago (January 4)—was an instant classic, and we're hoping for another, but with the good guys on the winning side this time. Unfortunately, the Silver and Black will be without a significant weapon in the second game of an increasingly difficult four-game road trip.

Jeremy Sochan is out against Milwaukee

There's something cursed about playing the Clippers. San Antonio was on a seven-game losing streak to the LA ball club entering the season, and when the Spurs were on the verge of blowing them out, Sochan got hurt, the Spurs lost the game, and the Polish Prince had to sit out a few weeks.

The next time the two teams met, San Antonio finally broke the losing streak to LA, but during the game, Sochan fell hard on his back. The incident caused him to miss the rest of the contest, and he's been dealing with a nagging injury ever since. He played 26 minutes in the loss to Chicago, but he'll have to miss the game tonight, and that's not an insignificant loss for several reasons.

Meanwhile, the Bucks have a chance to step onto the court with a fully healthy lineup.

Khris Middleton: Questionable (Ankle)
Giannis Antetokounmpo: Questionable (Finger)
Andre Jackson: Questionable (Back)

Sochan is already the best perimeter defender on the team. He plays with physicality, has great instincts, and his energy makes him a problem for offensive players on the perimeter. His size is a major weapon for the Spurs, too. The Polish Prince stands 6'9" with a 7'0" wingspan, and against a team as large as Milwaukee, it's imperative to have guys who can match up.

San Antonio has already had a problem with their big-man rotation. You never know who is going to get minutes because none of the guys backing up Wemby can be relied upon for consistency. As a result, Vic has played way more minutes than he should, and it's caused him to run out of gas at the end of games.

If Wembanyama were playing those minutes because he was in tremendous shape, and that was just the game plan, that would be one thing. But that's obviously not the case. It's being done out of necessity because the team wants to win, and playing the backup bigs at any length severely compromises their ability to do so.

Without Sochan, the Spurs can't employ their small-ball lineup, and they'll be forced to play Zach Collins, Charles Bassey, and possibly Sandro Mamukelashvili (who deserves minutes here and there anyway).

The Bucks have had inconsistency in their season, but they're still as dangerous as ever. You can never, for a second, sleep on Giannis Antetokounmpo or Damian Lillard. San Antonio must be ready to give a herculean effort to pull this game out. We know Wemby has it in him, but he'll need some guys to come along for the ride because it's going to be a bumpy one.