The San Antonio Spurs held on to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 115-102 on Monday night after Victor Wembanyama left in the first half due to a left rib contusion.
Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 17 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds, while Wembanyama had 17 points, five boards, and three blocks in 15:40.
Wembanyama’s status for the final week of the regular season is unknown.
The Spurs (60-19) are 2 1/2 games behind Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City (62-16) and assured of finishing no worse than second in the conference.
On the other hand, Joel Embiid led Philadelphia with 34 points and 12 rebounds, and Paul George added 16 points.
The 76ers lost their second straight game as they battle to stay out of the play-in tournament.
Philadelphia (43-36) is a half-game behind the Toronto Raptors (43-35) for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
Wembanyama did not play in the second half after taking an elbow from George near midcourt.
He was sprinting up-court when George attempted to deflect a pass, but instead struck the 22-year-old in the side at the 1:11 mark of the second quarter. Wembanyama remained on the court for about a minute before being subbed.
The Frenchman superstar returned to play five more minutes before asking San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson to take him out of the game with 44 seconds left in the first half, and did not return.
Since Wembanyama has said he wants to win the league’s MVP award this season, it counts as an official game per the NBA’s guidelines, which allow two exceptions of 15 to 19:59 minutes to count toward the league-required minimum of 65 games played for award eligibility.
Up next: the 76ers visit the Rockets on Thursday, while the Spurs host the Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
