Victor Wembanyama had the greatest game of his brief NBA career, scoring 38 points, dishing out 10 rebounds, and dishing out two blocks to help the San Antonio Spurs defeat the Phoenix Suns 132-121.
With their game on Tuesday at the Footprint Center, this was the Spurs and Suns’ second meeting in Arizona this week. That night, the Spurs also prevailed, overcoming a 20-point deficit to win on a last-second shot, but the rules of Thursday’s game were quite differe
The Spurs were fast off the starting line, defeating the Suns by 19 points in just the first quarter. They led by 27 points at one point in the first half and were up 75-55 at the intermission.
But Phoenix had the opportunity to make a comeback this time. With just more than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, a Keita Bates-Diop three-pointer tied the score at 116, helping the Suns, led by their star tandem of Kevin Durant and the back-from-vacation Devin Booker, to overcome the deficit.
Wembanyama scored ten of the Spurs’ 12 unanswered points as they made sure not to let their lead slip. The first overall choice, who shot 15 for 26 from the field, made three threes, and routinely took advantage of lesser players in the post to control the paint offensively, was absolutely dominant.
That 19-year-old Wembanyama has only played in five NBA games is astounding.
Following the match, Wembanyama declared, “The NBA has the best athletes on the planet.” But things are going fairly nicely so far.
We look for the sweet spot where we can inflict damage on them during every game. It might be this way now, and someone else tomorrow. The way exceptional teams