Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama complains about refs after Clippers rally to win

SAN ANTONIO —  Clippers center Ivica Zubac had 21 points and 22 rebounds in an intense battle with San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama as the Clippers rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 128-116 on Wednesday night.

Wembanyama had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs. They have lost five of six.

Wembanyama and Zubac battled throughout with one exchange nearly leading to a skirmish with 4:45 remaining in the third quarter after a three-pointer by Harrison Barnes and a Clippers timeout.

Zubac yelled at the officials earlier in the third quarter for not calling a foul on Barnes after the Spurs forward blocked his layup. The frustration boiled over when Wembanyama blocked Zubac’s attempted dunk with 4:49 remaining in the third quarter and no foul was called.

Zubac flailed his arms in frustration and was late defensively, watching as Barnes made his three to cut the Clippers’ lead to 85-78. Still, Zubac rushed into the paint as the shot was up and gave a hard hip check and elbow to Wembanyama’s back, sending him flying to the baseline.

Wembanyama gathered himself and charged at Zubac but was held back by the Spurs coaching staff and players, who had filed onto the court as Clippers coach Ty Lue called a timeout immediately after Barnes’ three-pointer.

The frustration with what Wembanyama sees as a lack of calls, and respect, from officials boiled over late in the third quarter — and during his postgame news conference.

“So ... it’s not even about Zubac,” Wembanyama said. “It’s just frustration, no matter who it was.”

When asked if he believes he gets a fair whistle from officials, Wembanyama curtly said, “No.”

The shove from Zubac was just the latest overt physicality Wembanyama has had to deal with.

“I reacted a little,” Zubac said. “I thought I got fouled [on the previous play]. I was mad at the refs. So, then I was late [on Harrison Barnes’ three-point shot]. I saw it going up. I saw Wemby crashing, so I knew I had to box him out. I bumped him a little harder. I let emotions take over a little bit, but I apologized to him. That’s not the way I want to be on the court and compete.”

Despite Zubac’s shove, no foul was called. Officials also did not call a technical foul on Wembanyama and, after a brief discussion, did not review the play.

The lack of a call angered Wembanyama and the Spurs.

“I thought there was a few plays that should have been taken care of a little bit earlier,” San Antonio acting head coach Mitch Johnson said. “You’ll get reactions like that. It’s probably surprising he hasn’t reacted like that earlier, to be honest. He gets a lot of contact and at some point he’s going to have to continue to protect himself if the people controlling the game, supposedly, are not going to do that.”

Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell had 27 points each for the Clippers.

San Antonio closed the third quarter on a 17-9 run and took a one-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Clippers closed out their third win in four games.

San Antonio rookie guard Stephon Castle had 20 points and Devin Vassell added 19.

Takeaways

Clippers: Los Angeles shot 50% on three-pointers.

Spurs: San Antonio forward Jeremy Sochan had seven points and no rebounds as he remained out of the starting lineup after missing several games with a lower back injury.

Key moment

The Clippers went on a 15-2 run over 3½ minutes to grab a 119-107 lead after Wembanyama’s step-back three-pointer had put the Spurs up 105-104 with 5:38 remaining in the game.

Key stat

Wembanyama extended his NBA record to 35 straight games with a block and a three-pointer.

Up next

The Clippers are at Charlotte on Friday night. The Spurs host Milwaukee on Friday night.