The Wembanyama-Luka rematch has extra heat to it this season

On November 27, the Spurs will face off against the Lakers in an NBA Cup match at the Frost Bank Center. Victor Wembanyama is a combined 1-5 against Luka Doncic, with the lone win coming last year in a game when San Antonio's superstar came off the bench as he continued to work his way back from a hamstring strain.

That wasn't the only asterisk-worthy element to the ball game, either. LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura were also out that early January night. It wasn't a fair fight by any means.

As long as both teams are close to full strength in late November, Wemby will get a real shot at taking down Doncic without some odd cloud of circumstances hanging over the meeting.

Luka has made the Spurs pay for years

The Slovenian point-forward is an offensive savant. His ability to control the pace, manipulate defenders, and create efficient offense can completely negate a great defense at times. Luka has the size and skill to allow him to attack almost any matchup.

This has been an issue since his Mavericks days. San Antonio didn't beat Luka once after his rookie year during his time in Dallas. After his rookie year in the 2018-19 season, the Silver and Black only beat the Mavs twice with Doncic in the lineup before he was traded to LA, and the last time was in 2021.

Luka is now fully leading his own team again. Bron is gone, so it's his show now. Photos shared on social media show him in great shape, so his motivation must be dialed up. He'll be as vicious an opponent as ever if he keeps that up.

The Spurs have the upper hand now

Wembanyama no longer needs to try beating Luka by holding him to a low scoring total. It's virtually impossible anyway. Doncic is one of those greats that makes a defensive game plan irrelevant, so if you're trying to win by keeping him from going ballistic, you could be fighting a losing battle.

Sometimes, you have to just outscore the man. The Spurs can do that now. They have the weapons all over the floor and at virtually every position. Doncic has become so formidable because the teams built around him play to his strengths. When he has shooters and a lob threat, he's impossible to contain.

But Wemby has that backup now too. San Antonio has shooters, drivers, defenders, and lob threats. Just about everything you could ask for. The goal now becomes making Luka work while forcing Los Angeles to keep pace instead of the other way around.

With the edge in Vic's favor, he should take control of his head-to-head series with Luka. But the Lakers' franchise star won't make it easy, and the inevitable knock-down, drag-out battle on November 27 should give fans something exciting to look forward to.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow