Victor Wembanyama gets three cracks at the only rivalry the Spurs are still losing

A graphic making the rounds on social media recently lists every NBA team's worst head-to-head opponent, and San Antonio's entry is the weirdest one on the board. The Spurs' all-time regular-season record against the Los Angeles Lakers sits at 97-99. That's it. That's the worst matchup this franchise has against anybody in the league.

Two games or a 49.5% clip is rock bottom for the Silver and Black. Oh, woe is me. Fortunately, that horrendous discrepancy is fixable this season. Just barely, but still, San Antonio gets three cracks at LA this season, and the numbers only work for the good guys one way.

Every franchise in the NBA has a bully except for the Spurs

Look at what "worst head-to-head opponent" means for everyone else, and the gap gets more ridiculous. Detroit is 39-73 against Utah. Portland is 50-78 against Boston. The Lakers themselves are 135-169 against the Celtics, which is a genuine 34-game hole that no amount of banner-counting erases.

Those are real tormentors. These teams have spent decades living in another franchise's head. It's actually pretty funny.

San Antonio doesn't have one of those. In fact, they are the predator, the Grim Reaper, or destiny fulfilled for many others. 60-47 against Boston, 56-47 vs. Milwaukee, 119-74 over Golden State. Go down the list and the pattern holds. They've beaten a bunch of these teams consistently over 50 years, and the closest thing they have to a bully of their own is a team they're only two games behind.

Spurs must sweep LA to erase that gap completely

Here's where it gets fun. The Spurs host the Lakers on November 27 in NBA Cup group play, host them again on February 6, and close the season series in Los Angeles on April 4. Three games to run down two losses.

Only one outcome flips this thing, and it's a sweep to put SA at 100-99 and in front for the first time in years. Go 2-1, and they're still stuck behind LA at 99-100. It's a sweep, or it's nothing, unless the Cup bracket hands us a fourth meeting the way it did last December between the Spurs and the Thunder. There's no reason they can't do it.

San Antonio went 3-1 against JJ Redick's crew last season and enters this one on a three-game winning streak against them. The margins for those matchups were 13, 16, and 28. That last one was a February rout where Victor Wembanyama dropped 40 points in 26 minutes. They know how to beat the Lakers, and despite LA's new look this season, I'd still put my money on the Silver and Black.

Now, to be fair to LaLa Land, two of the three wins came against lineups missing rotational pieces. That's life in the NBA, but it's still a fact worth acknowledging. However, with LeBron James in Philadelphia, this is now officially the Luka Doncic show, and I'm just not convinced it's worth the price of admission.

I'd much rather count on the Alien and the immense talent coming up in San Antonio, who all seem to possess an all-gas, no-brakes mindset.

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