LAS VEGAS — Victor Wembanyama played limited minutes off the bench in San Antonio‘s win over Oklahoma City in the semifinals of the Emirates NBA Cup on Saturday, and Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said the team might employ a similar approach in Tuesday’s championship game against the New York Knicks.

“It’s going to be a mix of different opinions,” Wembanyama said Monday. “But I’m ready. Even I will have my own opinion [about what to do]. It will also be based on my thoughts and the thoughts of the staff. I just said a bunch of nothing. But basically, we’re going to discuss it.”

Wembanyama came off the bench Saturday for the first time in his career after missing 12 games because of a left calf strain. He played 21 minutes against the Thunder, racking up 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, when the rest of his teammates combined for 18 points.

Wembanyama didn’t check into the game until the start of the second quarter, when Oklahoma City led by 11 points. Wembanyama had three rebounds, a tip-in layup and an assist on Dylan Harper‘s 3-pointer in his first three possessions. The Spurs’ center went 2-of-3 from the floor in the second quarter for five points as San Antonio cut the Thunder’s lead to three points at halftime.

“I know Vic wanted to get out there and play more, but we’re focused on his long-term [health],” Spurs guard Devin Vassell said. “I trust in Mitch 100 percent. They had the perfect plan. I know they talked about it over and over, and we executed it. As soon as Vic came in, he had the impact that we needed.”

A similar strategy could unfold Tuesday against the Knicks.

“It’ll be something that Victor and I will continue to talk through,” Johnson said. “It’s hard. He wants to play. He wants to start. He wants to finish. Wherever you put some minutes, that means you have less over there. We still have to think about what’s best for the team, unfortunately. That decision can’t be made in a vacuum, even though it’s a very impactful and influential decision. We still have to make sure it fits with the other rollout of who’s playing with who and how that affects others.”

Wembanyama is still eligible for major individual awards despite the time he has already missed. Even though the NBA Cup championship game won’t count in the standings, it counts toward the NBA’s 65-game rule for awards.

The Spurs attempted to maximize Wembanyama’s minutes restriction in the NBA Cup semifinal game. After playing a little more than seven minutes in the first half, Wembanyama played 13:20 after halftime.

“We’re not at a stage where we will be unintentional with his minutes, whether that’s volume over time [or] long stints,” Johnson said. “But we want to make sure we’ve learned or continue to learn from what has happened. That doesn’t mean we have the answers. But we don’t just say, ‘Oh, now we’re back,’ or whatever. We are still learning and want to be very mindful of that.”

MANCHESTER, England — The half of the Manchester United team that was strengthened in the summer played well against AFC Bournemouth. The other half — the one the club hope to put right next summer — didn’t.

The result was a chaotic 4-4 draw at Old Trafford, which showcased everything Ruben Amorim’s side are good at, but also highlighted all the work that still needs to be done. United made a conscious effort to remedy their chronic lack of goals last season by buying some.

But with most of the budget spent on attacking players, it meant that the defensive part of the squad has been overlooked. The end product is a team that is capable of scoring goals, but not keeping them out.

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United have found the net 30 times in the Premier League — the same number as Arsenal and bettered only by Manchester City — while also keeping just one clean sheet, one fewer than 19th-placed Burnley.

“It was a fun game for everyone at home,” said Amorim.

“People enjoy seeing Manchester United this season, but we need to put both things together.

“If you understand a little bit, if you follow the club like I followed the Premier League for so long, you have a duty not just to win the games, but the way is so important for the fans.

“They are desperate to win but also to be inspired. Today was inspiring, but there is also the feeling of frustration from not winning.”

United are hoping to follow up the £200 million investment in their forward line with a similar outlay on at least one central midfielder and a couple of wing backs. Until they get a chance to open the checkbook — possibly in January but more likely next summer — Amorim is left to work with a lopsided group.

At times, summer signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, along with Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo and Mason Mount, looked scintillating going forward.

United peppered Bournemouth goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic‘s goal with 12 shots inside the first 30 minutes and managed 17 by halftime. Amad and Fernandes both scored either side of a Casemiro header and when Cunha added his name to the scoresheet in the 79th minute, it put United in front for the third time.

It still wasn’t enough to secure all three points and Bournemouth, who arrived at Old Trafford winless in six games and without a goal in more than four hours, found a late equalizer through substitute Junior Kroupi. Earlier, Antoine Semenyo scored his first goal since October. That was before Evanilson‘s first goal since August.

After watching their team score three goals at Old Trafford in each of the last two seasons, at one point the Bournemouth fans tucked in the corner of the stadium began singing “Man United, it’s happened again.”

“It’s really difficult to explain,” said Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola.

“A lot of ups and downs. United were much better than us for 20 minutes. Overall, I’m happy apart from that 20 minutes.

“They were punishing us with Amad and Mbeumo. We’ve scored four and conceded four. We needed some players on the scoresheet and it’s good for their confidence.”

It would have been even worse for Amorim — who tinkered with his 3-4-3 system for the first time to create a hybrid formation which at times looked like 4-4-2 — if United goalkeeper Senne Lammens hadn’t pulled off a fantastic save from David Brooks in stoppage time. It left the home fans who streamed out at the final whistle in near-stunned silence, not quite knowing what to make of it all.

Are United closer to the team that has lost just one of their last 10 games, or is two wins from six a more accurate way to view it?

Both, of course, are true. Afterwards, Amorim stopped short of saying he wants the investment made in the attack last summer to be poured into the midfield and defense ahead of next season, but the inference was there nonetheless.

“We are lacking quality when we defend our goal,” said the Portuguese coach.

“It’s something we need to address. It is different when you suffer so many goals and the opponent does not have what we create.

“I think we have talent at the back and quality players, we just have to be better at defending. We took care of the offence. We have the characteristics, we just need to work together.”

The worry for Amorim now is that it’s his attack — the one part of his team that is functioning — which will be hit hardest when the Africa Cup of Nations begins later this month. Mbeumo and Amad — perhaps United’s best two players — will now join up with Cameroon and Ivory Coast, respectively, and could miss a month if they reach the final on Jan. 18. Noussair Mazraoui has already joined up with Morocco.

It leaves the United boss to head to Aston Villa, the Premier League’s most in-form team, with the best parts of his squad ripped out. Casemiro, who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season, will also miss out. If there were holes in Amorim’s team against Bournemouth, there are set to be even more at Villa Park on Sunday.

Until the club can implement the next phase of its recruitment plan, he must make the best of what he’s got.