Is Victor Wembanyama starting tonight? What to know about Spurs star's injury return plan

The San Antonio Spurs continue to exercise great caution as they welcome Victor Wembanyama back into the fold.

Wembanyama missed a month with a calf strain, and the Spurs have not deviated from their plan: Wemby has come off the bench in all four games, including the NBA Cup final against the New York Knicks, that he has played since his injury comeback.

Even off the bench, Wembanyama continues to break basketball. Despite averaging just over 20 minutes per game over the past four, the 21-year-old has scored at least 14 points in each game with two double-doubles. His streak of games with at least one block passed 100 last week, and the Spurs' six-game winning streak has San Antonio sitting second in the Western Conference at 21-7.

What was Victor Wembanyama's injury?

Wembanyama suffered a left calf strain in a game against the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 14. He missed 12 games before he returned to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in an NBA Cup semifinal on Dec. 13.

Will Wembanyama start against the Thunder?

The Spurs and the Thunder will play the first of consecutive meetings on Tuesday night before meeting again in a nationally-televised Christmas Day blockbuster.

Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson has made the plan clear for Wembanyama: he will continue to come off the bench and play limited minutes, no matter the level of the opposition.

Mitch Johnson didn’t sugarcoat it. The Spurs are slow-playing Wemby’s minutes because of his “unique anatomy and situation,” and they’re taking it day by day. The season’s a grind, and the team’s medical staff clearly sees something they want to manage carefully. https://t.co/3bjsqSZfzF pic.twitter.com/uQoLXtUaWl

Johnson has left it open-ended as to when this arrangement will end. Given Wembanyama's injury history, San Antonio will be as careful as possible with their frontcourt phenom.

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