The San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 118-105, on Thursday night. Victor Wembanyama had a quiet night with 12 points, eight rebounds, four steals, three blocks and two assists. The main reason for that might have been the hard-nosed defense of Portland's Jerami Grant who was not afraid to get physical with the French big man.
Never was that more apparent than during a deadball with 7:14 remaining in the third quarter. As substitutions were made and referees waited to put the ball back into play, Wembanyama and Grant jostled for position in the paint and Wembanyama ended up on his back.
Teammates and officials rushed in to make sure everyone was okay while a mop operator went in to clean up the mess Wemby might have left with his sweaty jersey. Before he could even finish, Wemby and Grant were at it again and Wembanyama was again on the floor.
The Portland players, as well as the mop professional, were incredulous.
While Wemby may have embellished it a bit once or twice by ending up on the ground, Grant was pretty physical here and officials agreed, finally calling a dead ball foul on the Portland forward and awarding Wembanyama one free throw.
More of the Latest Around the NBA
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Victor Wembanyama Flops During Dead Ball in Front of Confused Cleanup Crew.
