Perhaps the biggest story of the NBA season so far has been Victor Wembanyama's dominance. The San Antonio Spurs big man is averaging 26.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 4.7 blocks, and 1.3 steals. However, on Sunday night, "The Alien" showed that he might be human after all. Wemby put up nine points (4-of-14 shooting), nine rebounds, two assists, four blocks, and six turnovers.
In fact, this game dropped Wemby's scoring average from 29.4 points and marked his lowest point total since his rookie season. This led to the Spurs' first loss of the season. To everyone's surprise, though, it came against the Phoenix Suns, who are one of the worst defenses in the league. Notably, the Suns rank 21st in defensive rating, and through four games, they ranked 29th.
You might be wondering how in the world the Suns solved the Wemby puzzle on Sunday. The short answer is that they put a smaller defender on Wemby (sometimes fronting him), typically Royce O'Neale or Jordan Goodwin, every time he was inside the arc. This allowed a big man, typically Mark Williams (or Oso Ighodaro), to roam on the helpside, forcing double teams, sometimes, even triple teams. As a result, Wemby was forced into difficult shots and turnovers.
Here are all of Wemby's turnovers and missed shots. You can see the strategy outlined in several of these plays.
Victor Wembanyama missed shots and turnovers vs the Suns
— Eamon Cassels (@EamonCassels) November 3, 2025
(4-14 shooting, 6 turnovers)
Massive props to the Suns for a creative scheme pic.twitter.com/gs2so9TsRb
The Suns perfectly executed a unique scheme
Massive props to first-year head coach Jordan Ott for this creative defensive scheme. Of course, you also have to credit the Suns for executing this strategy. Mark Williams stood out to as a help-side defender. He rotated at an elite level, forcing Wemby into difficult shots. Notably, Wembanyama shot 0-of-5 and committed a turnover against Williams. For this strategy to work, a mobile big man is necessary.
On the season, Williams has an absurd minus-19.9 on/off defensive swing. With him on the court, the Suns' defensive rating translates to the league's second-best defense, and opponents are shooting just 43.6 percent against him.
The other player who really stood out was Jordan Goodwin. Despite being 6-foot-3 (more than a foot shorter than Wemby), Goodwin was fearless, often picking up Wemby in one-on-one situations before the helpside defender rotated over. Impressively, Goodwin held Wemby to 0-of-3 shooting and forced a turnover.
Royce O'Neale and Ryan Dunn are the last two players to shout out. O'Neale's 20 partial possessions were the most anyone spent on Wemby; he held him to 2-of-5 shooting and forced a turnover. While Dunn didn't spend a ton of time on Wemby, he held him to 0-of-3 shooting, and you guessed it, forced a turnover.
This was a true team effort from the Suns and truly incredible to watch.
Other teams will surely try to replicate this strategy
It's worth wondering if this strategy is a one-off or something that other teams can replicate. It's more likely to be a one-off. Nevertheless, throwing a smaller player on Wemby and having a big man roam on the help-side is easy to replicate.
Despite his enormous size, Wemby was clearly caught off guard by being picked up by smaller defenders. When you're a smaller defender, you can be very disruptive with bigger players by getting low and physical.
Four out of five of Wemby's most common matchups have come against centers this season, with Zion Williamson being the lone non-center. Side note, but Bam Adebayo also played fantastic defense against Wemby on Thursday, holding him to 5-of-13 shooting.
Last season, Dillon Brooks was the only wing to defend Wembanyama on more than 15 field goals. It's clear that Wemby wasn't used to this style of defense. While teams will try to implement this strategy, eventually Wemby's pure force will be overpowering. For now, though, this is an intriguing strategy to watch play out.