76ers Lose to Spurs Despite Victor Wembanyama Missing Second Half, Falling Back into a Play-In Spot

The playoffs are close, and the 76ers are trying to stack as many wins as possible.

The Philadelphia 76ers are wrapping up their 2025-26 regular season this week, and their first stop was a trip to the heart of Texas in San Antonio against the Spurs. The Spurs are led by a potential MVP candidate and arguably the best player in the world in Victor Wembanyama, and sit with the second-best record in the Western Conference and the entire NBA.

However, the Spurs only got 16 minutes out of Wembanyama as he went down with a shoulder injury that kept him out of the entire second half. Despite missing a whole half, the Spurs were able to pull away thanks to inefficient offense from the 76ers and clutch buckets from Dylan Harper off the bench, and a triple-double from Stephon Castle, leading the Spurs to a 115-102 win, their 60th of the season.

Castle led the Spurs in scoring with 19 points and added 11 rebounds and 13 assists for his fifth career triple-double, while Harper shot an efficient 7-for-11 from the field, including 3-for-3 from three for 17 points. Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 34 points and 12 rebounds in 39 minutes, but the rest of the 76ers could only combine for 68 total points.

With the loss, the 76ers dropped back down to the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, putting them in a play-in spot. With just three games remaining, Philadelphia no longer controls its own destiny for avoiding the play-in game and making a top-six seed.

The three-point line was the key for Philadelphia to kick off the night, as Paul George continued to pick up where he’s been leaving off, opening up the game with a pair of triples, while VJ Edgecombe added one as well. However, it didn’t take long for the Spurs to answer as Devin Vassell drilled a three-pointer, and Castle and Wembanyama scored six points each.

Back and forth both teams went, trading buckets throughout the first quarter, until, with two minutes left, the Spurs jumped back in front thanks to a three from Keldon Johnson and back-to-back dunks from Harrison Barnes and Wembanyama, taking a 29-28 lead into the second quarter.

Quarter two kicked off similarly to the middle of the first, as both teams traded buckets. De’Aaron Fox would hit a fadeaway bucket, and Edgecombe would answer back with a pull-up jumper. Quentin Grimes and Lindy Waters III traded threes, and Embiid and Spurs backup center Luke Kornet knocked down paint buckets.

Kornet was in due to Wembanyama going down with an injury after running into George going for a live ball, but he returned after quickly getting checked in the locker room. Back in the game, Wembanyama put the Spurs back in front thanks to brilliant defensive plays on one end and three straight buckets on the other end. Following an and-one layup and free throw from Johnson, the Spurs took a 62-55 lead into the half.

Out of the break, the 76ers got rolling to take the lead back, coming out on a 10-2 run thanks to free throws from Maxey and Embiid and threes from Embiid as well as George. Up a point, the Spurs instantly responded with a 10-0 run thanks to five points from former 76er Julian Champagnie, two points from Vassel, and a three from Fox.

However, following the 10-0 run, it was announced that Wembanyama would be out for the remainder of the game due to the injury he suffered in the second quarter. Despite Wembanyama remaining out, things didn’t change for the Spurs, and the 76ers couldn’t capitalize on the situation.

The 76ers battled back using Embiid and his ability to get to the free-throw line to storm back into the game. Six straight points from Embiid came from free throws, and when Embiid wasn’t at the line, he was finding Barlow inside for buckets and Edgecombe on the wing for threes to make it a one-possession game.

As the final minute of the third quarter ticked down, the Spurs used two sets of foul shots and a three-pointer from Dylan Harper to go up 92-85 with just 12 minutes to play. The run didn’t stop at the end of the quarter, though, as the Spurs knocked down three straight buckets to double their lead from seven to 14 with eight minutes to play.

Needing to get a final run going, the 76ers went back to the Embiid well, trying to pick up a few free throws, but he wasn’t finding the results he was hoping for, leading to wasted minutes of no ground gained. With less than four minutes to play, the 76ers continued to struggle to create any type of offense, with Embiid not even being able to get to the line for free throws.

As the final minutes ticked down, a floater from Castle iced the game for San Antonio, as the Spurs held onto the 115-102 win over Philadelphia.

Get New Articles Emailed Right To Your Inbox: