Victor Wembanyama achieved a triple-double with 27 points (10/14 on shots, including 2/4 at 3 points), 14 rebounds and above all 10 blocks (plus 5 assists and 2 interceptions), a rare performance (in 29 ‘), to help the San Antonio Spurs dominate the Raptors 122-99 on Monday in Toronto.
Succeeded in a certain collective slump with San Antonio, Victor Wembanyama continues to regularly bring light from his giant hands (2.24 m), and concretizes the promises which surround the young basketball prodigy for his first NBA season.
Aged 20, “Wemby” is only the fourth “rookie” (beginner) in league history to achieve a triple-double including 10 or more rebounds, the first in 34 years.
The triple-double, the symbol for a basketball player of a complete and high-class match, is achieved by obtaining more than ten units in three statistical areas, most often points, rebounds and assists. Wembanyama became the 5th youngest player to validate it in the NBA on January 10 against Detroit (16 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists).
Doing it with more than 10 blocks is much rarer, only around thirty players can boast of it in the history of the league. The last one was from January 2021.
In the kingdom of giants, one of the great specialists of the exercise was Spurs pivot David Robinson, drafted No.1 in 1989, of whom Wembanyama, No.1 in the draft last year, is the direct heir in the Texas franchise. “Admiral” Robinson was even the last “rookie” author of such a performance in 1990, before totaling nine at the end of his career.
“Robinson?” I didn’t see him play as a child, it’s older. But with Spurs I learned about him, watched videos. It’s an honor to have my name associated with his,” commented the young Frenchman.
The evening full of Wembanyama (also author of 5 assists and 2 interceptions), top scorer of the match, was all the more surprising as the Frenchman seemed out of breath in recent weeks, at the heart of a series of seven defeats which ended Monday against the Raptors, led from start to finish, and crushed by Spurs rather accustomed to suffering this kind of humiliation.
“For some reason I was having a great day, I started strong. It’s the NBA I imagine, we have ups and downs, tonight was a high,” Wembanyama smiled at a press conference.
The Frenchman confirms his status as the best NBA blocker (3.2 per game on average, 143 in total), which also allows him to intimidate his opponents.
“It is a fact. But it’s getting harder to block shots, I have to make an extra effort, because the players come less and less to challenge me directly.
End of series for Cleveland
Particularly skillful (10 out of 14 including 2 out of 4 from distance), “Wemby” did not forget to put on a show, as on this poster dunk over Jakob Poeltl, or with a two-block action on Scottie Barnes.
The Texans, however, remain last in the Western Conference despite their 11th victory (43 losses). They face Dallas on Wednesday, before Wembanyama flies to Indianapolis where he plays the best young people tournament (Friday) and the skill competition (Saturday) on the sidelines of the All-Star Game scheduled for Sunday.
Elsewhere in the NBA, the Philadelphia 76ers ended the Cleveland Cavaliers’ nine-game winning streak (123-121), the franchise’s longest since 2017-2018 and LeBron James’ second stint. The Sixers nearly squandered a 10-point lead with 1:25 left, but Darius Garland missed the game-winning three-pointer.
The Golden State Warriors dominated the Utah Jazz for a fifth consecutive victory, in Salt Lake City, where their assistant coach Dejan Milojevic died on January 17. Warriors coach Steve Kerr was not on the bench Monday but in Serbia to attend Milojevic’s funeral.
The night’s results: LA Clippers-Minnesota 100-121 Dallas-Washington 112-104 Toronto-San Antonio 99-122 Atlanta-Chicago 126-136 Utah-Golden State 107-129 Houston-New York 105-103 Milwaukee-Denver 112-95 Memphis-New York Orleans 87-96Charlotte-Indiana 111-102Cleveland-Philadelphia 121-123
