Carter Bryant gave the Spurs exactly the kind of night they’ve been waiting for in their comeback win over the Chicago Bulls, and it came at a time when San Antonio’s rotation is crowded enough that every minute has to be earned.
The young forward turned in his best individual performance of the season as the Spurs stretched their winning streak to 10 games on the road. Bryant finished with a season-high 10 points, going 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-4 from three. He did it cleanly, too, with 17 minutes played, no fouls and no turnovers.
That kind of efficiency matters on a team where Bryant isn’t being asked to create much for himself. His job is to stay ready, move without the ball and punish defenses when teammates force the issue. Against Chicago, he handled that assignment well.
His first three came in the second quarter when De’Aaron Fox pushed the pace and kicked it to the deep left corner. Bryant was waiting and buried the shot. Later, in the fourth, Julian Champagnie drove into the paint and found Bryant outside for another three.
The best sequence came late. Keldon Johnson attacked the lane off a Victor Wembanyama handoff, and Bryant read it perfectly, cutting from the opposite corner for a baseline dunk. The Spurs ran the same action on the next possession, and this time Bryant turned it into a layup.
That’s the version of Bryant San Antonio needs more often. When he’s playing off the ball, the value is in the details: taking the open three, recognizing the cut, and making the right read when defenders collapse elsewhere.
The encouraging part for the Spurs is that this isn’t an isolated flash. Bryant has started to settle in after a slow opening to his sophomore season. Over his last three games, he’s averaging eight points off the bench while hitting 55% of his long-range attempts.
With Mitch Johnson working through one of the deepest rosters in the league, Bryant’s timing matters. He’s giving the staff a reason to keep him in the mix, and that becomes even more important with Tobias Harris set to return.
In Other News...
Wembanyama Just Gave Spurs Fans Another Unreal Moment To Debate
Victor Wembanyama keeps finding new ways to make the ordinary look absurd, and his latest highlight came in the third quarter against the Bulls. The Spurs big man launched into a two-hand dunk from the free-throw line, the kind of play that instantly turns a regular night into another entry in the growing Wembanyama highlight reel.
It also came in the middle of a game where he was already stuffing the stat sheet, with San Antonio ahead in the fourth quarter and Wembanyama sitting on 32 points, eight rebounds, two steals and four blocks. Given the way he has been playing all season, with elite production on both ends and a shooting touch to match, the only real debate left is how many more moments like this he can still create before the league runs out of ways to react. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Have A DeAaron Fox Problem They Cant Ignore
DeAaron Fox has been one of the Spurs most important creators since arriving from Sacramento, and the ball is in his hands more often than ever. He still leads San Antonio in assists, which speaks to how much the offense has leaned on him to organize possessions and get others involved, but the scoring punch that once made him such a difficult cover has not traveled with him.
Fox is averaging 13.9 points per game this season, a steep drop from the level he showed when the Spurs acquired him. The bigger concern is not just the number itself, but the way it has come about: he looks less aggressive hunting his own shot, and that shift has put his offensive role under the microscope while also raising questions about how the league will view his trade value if this version of him sticks around. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Hot Start Still Leaves One Big Tobias Harris Question
Nine straight wins have given the Spurs plenty to like early, but the one major piece they have not yet been able to factor in is Tobias Harris. His absence has left San Antonio to keep sorting through a rotation that is already working, even as the veteran forwards expected return looms as a potential boost in size and shooting.
Harris is the kind of addition that can change the shape of a lineup without forcing the Spurs to tear up what has gotten them off to such a strong start. The open question is where he fits once he is available, since his role could be determined by the coachs decisions and could land anywhere from the starting five to a more defined bench role. [Read more 🡒]