Tonight’s game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Denver Nuggets was supposed to be a marquee matchup. The two Western Conference contenders are fighting for playoff positioning, with the Spurs looking to close in on the #1 seed. However, things are already looking dire for the Spurs, with superstar center Victor Wembanyama reportedly not playing tonight. Here’s what happened to him.

According to the team, Wembanyama has been ruled out of tonight’s game due to right ankle soreness. The young star was already ruled questionable yesterday, with his status remaining a question mark until earlier today. It was also revealed that Wembanyama was a “true 50/50” to play today after shootaround, according to NBA reporter Matthew Tynan, and that he would be a true game-time decision.

Without him, the team is looking to rely upon their plethora of reserve bigs: Luke Kornet, Kelly Olynyk, Bismack Biyombo and Mason Plumlee.

However, the most important point to note here is the implication for Wembanyama’s chances of winning an award. According to the NBA’s rules for postseason awards, players must play at least 65 games to be eligible for nomination. Wembanyama has dealt with various injuries this season and, after tonight’s miss, has only a three-game buffer left to remain eligible for All-NBA teams and other awards.

This isn’t the first time that the 65-game rule has gotten in the way of Wembanyama potentially winning some individual awards. Back in his second season, despite leading the league in blocks and being clearly the best defender, he was denied the award because he played only 46 games.

Now that the buffer is only thinning, Wembanyama doesn’t have much more margin for error when it comes to missing games.

Inside the Specifics of Victor Wembanyama’s Injury vs Denver Tonight

According to Tynan, the shootaround that Victor Wembanyama took part in earlier today was light, with very little up-and-down court time, though he was present when the practice was open to the media. His status before the game remained in the air, only becoming available a few minutes before tipoff.

With Wemby missing the game, this is his first absence since two consecutive games missed due to left calf soreness back in January, and he has just 3 games left in the team’s 16 remaining games. This comes in the middle of a promising season for the Frenchman, who is averaging 24.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game, and he’s making progress.

“I’m adapting to what the defense gives me,” Wembanyama said after the team’s win against the Boston Celtics. “I think that’s something that defines me. It’s something I don’t want to lose, ever. Someday, the goal is to be kind of unguardable.”

The Nuggets are entering San Antonio on the second night of a back-to-back in Texas, having blown out the Houston Rockets last night. At the half, despite a huge advantage in superstar availability, Denver is down 69-53.

Only time will tell if San Antonio can pull out this win and, hopefully, extend their winning streak to seven.