Victor Wembanyama wouldn't let the Spurs' trash three-point shooting stop his MVP campaign in Utah

Stop me if you've heard this before, but the Spurs started slow again, losing the quarter to the Jazz, 32-22. They didn't shoot the ball very well again, hitting only 31.6% of their threes. Not so surprisingly (it is Utah), it ended up mattering about as much as your opinion when your grandmother asks if you're hungry. You never say no. You just go wash your hands and get ready to eat.

Nana always gets the last say, and for all intents and purposes, tonight, Victor Wembanyama was Utah's respected elder. He made sure they had more than their fill.

The Alien dropped 36 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks in just under 39 minutes. San Antonio needed every single piece of what their French weapon of mass destruction gave them. It was the second night of a back-to-back for the Silver and Black, and they played like it. Those are the times when a superstar of Wemby's caliber steps up to put the team on his back.

That's what an MVP does.

The Spurs needed a lift to the finish line and Wembanyama provided it

San Antonio has their problems, but this isn't a night to pile on them... too much. That was already the second time they've played on consecutive days since the start of the season, and it's barely been a week. They deserve a break because they're on a three-game winning streak, and quite frankly, Utah was shorthanded, but the Jazz fought hard and made tough shots. Keldon Johnson saw the same.

With that being said, Wemby is the reason why that streak is ongoing. He was putting points on the board from the jump, scoring 4-of-5 for nine points in the first quarter. The rest of the team was a combined 6-of-20. Vic ended up dropping 21 points in the opening half, 11 in the second, and four in overtime. When his shotmaking slowed, he picked up his defense and got to the free-throw line a few times.

Spurs' three-point shooting still hasn't caught up to Wembanyama

Devin Vassell finished strong, scoring 17 of his 21 points in the second half, but he still only ended up making one out of seven three-pointers. I'm not criticizing Dev's game overall. He had a great night.

But we spend a lot of time talking about shotmaking to provide space, and it hasn't happened much so far outside of the Kings' game. Stephon Castle was 1-of-4, De'Aaron Fox was 1-of-5, and KJ was 0-of-2.

Julian Champagnie and Dylan Harper both went 2-of-4, and Vic was 4-of-10, but that's not enough for the offensive team the Spurs have the potential to be. This team is still very much a work in progress, but we always knew that. Despite that knowledge, Wembanyama was projected to be the MVP winner because he's that good, so this team is expected to win during its growth phase.

Nights like tonight are exactly why. Over his last four games, the Alien is averaging 28.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game on 54.1% from the field, and he's still only scratching the surface. Sounds like an MVP to me. He just has to keep it up for 77 more games.

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