Without surprise. Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs, last in the west, logically lost (117-98) to the leader in the east, Boston, on Wednesday in the NBA. The Spurs resisted the best team of the season for a quarter, before suffering the mastery of the “C’s”, although deprived of Latvian pivot Kristaps Porzingis and leader Derrick White.

In good form, Frenchman Victor Wembanyama totaled 27 points, finishing as the game’s top scorer, and grabbed 5 rebounds. In seven matches played in January, the No.1 of the last draft scored an average of 23.7 points. The 20-year-old giant (2.24 m) displayed his wide offensive range, between long shots, finesse approaches to the circle or a nice poster dunk over pivot Luke Kornet (2.16 m).

“Their defense… They all know their role perfectly, they share the ball, from the top player to those in the shadows, they all make sacrifices. I see their progress since the final lost against Golden State in 2022,” he said of his evening opponents.

Boston was able to count on Jayson Tatum (24 points) and Jrue Holiday (22 points) and still leads the Eastern Conference with 32 wins and 9 losses, while remaining undefeated at home (20 wins).

San Antonio (7 wins for 33 losses) travels to Charlotte on Friday, where Wembanyama announced he would not play. The Spurs staff has prevented him from playing for two consecutive days since an ankle scare in December. “Wemby” will thus focus on the “back-to-back” meeting on Saturday in Washington, for a reunion against his compatriot and former partner in the Mets of Levallois Bilal Coulibaly.

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