Lakers slow down, foul out Victor Wembanyama in gritty win

Wembanyama seemed confused by the Lakers multiple looks, keeping him off-balance and away from the rim. On the play where he fouled out, he caught a pass at the three-point line and attacked a closeout, but crashed into Hachimura.

The Spurs need to add some options for Wembanyama

One reason teams can defend Wembanyama so aggressively is the lack of other offensive threats to make them pay. All five Spurs starters were in double figures, but they combined to shoot 33.9 percent. They're missing Luke Kornet, who has thrived in double-big lineups with Wembanyama, plus point guards Dylan Harper and De'Aaron Fox.

Getting those players back should help, but ultimately the Spurs need a counter for teams guarding Wembanyama in this way. Maybe it's additional drives to the hoop and occupying the other team's rim protector, or maybe they need to make an effort to separate Wembanyama's defenders.

But they could also simply shoot better from outside. The best way to punish double teams on Wembanyama is to make three-pointers when the French big man kicks the ball out, and they simply haven't done that. Devin Vassell, the team's biggest three-point threat, went 2-for-8 on threes Wednesday and 0-for-6 in the earlier loss.

The Lakers played inspired defense to down the Spurs with LeBron James and Austin Reaves out. Other teams about to face Wemby will certainly take note of how they did it.