French basketball player Victor Wembanyama scored his first card on Thursday during his fifth NBA game by scoring 38 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a second consecutive victory against Kevin Durant’s Phoenix Suns (121-132).
Published on: 03/11/2023 – 07:12 Modified on: 03/11/2023 – 07:38
3 mn
Some 38 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists. Victor Wembanyama produced a successful copy during the NBA match with his San Antonio Spurs team, Thursday, November 2, to get the better of the Phoenix Suns (121-132).
Nineteen years old, five NBA matches under the clock, and already a first night of madness for the French giant (2.24 m), who behaved like the boss of his team by being decisive, particularly at the end of the match for extinguish the return of the Suns of one of his idols, Kevin Durant.
“I don’t see anyone like him in the NBA. I know we’re both tall and skinny, I know he watched me play when I was younger, but he watched a lot of others, which he “is inspired. He is unique. He will create his own story,” said Kevin Durant, praisingly, when asked about their similarities.
The most anticipated rookie since LeBron James in 2003, “Wemby” did better than the “King”, who had not scored more than 25 points in his first five matches. Before his 38 points in the evening, the Frenchman had scored between 11 and 21 points.
Victor Wembanyama and David Robinson are the only rookies in Spurs history to total 100+ points in their first five games.
Peep Wemby’s best highlights from that span ???? pic.twitter.com/EjkqdL6oxN
— NBA (@NBA) November 3, 2023
Rarely does a young player manage to establish himself in a team so quickly. Wembanyama’s fourth quarter has already moved him into the boss category.
His Spurs, ahead by 20 points at halftime, saw the Suns come back to tie (116-116) a few minutes from the end. The moment chosen by “Wemby” to score 10 points in three minutes, assisted by two points from Zach Collins, without the Suns finding the basket.
Decisive? “It’s obligatory to be ambitious,” assumed the Frenchman at a press conference.
“He kept it simple, that’s what great players do”
The native of Chesnay-Rocquencourt (Yvelines) displayed his entire range during the match, between dunks (notably one with a crazy jump in the second quarter), finishes near the basket with a nice touch of the ball, or more killer mid-range or three-point shots, almost impossible to counter given its size.
“He’s good, he’s really good. He didn’t do too much, didn’t carry the ball too much, wasn’t too individual, he kept it simple, that’s what great players do “, greeted Kevin Durant, double NBA champion in 2017 and 2018.
“In every match we try to find the right way to hurt the other team, tonight it happened like that, maybe tomorrow it will be someone else,” nuanced Victor Wembanyama. “But someone had to do it. In the fourth quarter in the NBA, you have to make big plays to shut down your opponents.”
The Spurs thus won a second victory in a row in Phoenix, two days after snatching a victory down to the wire (115-114).
Last in the Western Conference last season (22 wins, 60 losses), San Antonio had an unexpected start to the season (3 wins, 2 losses), with the youngest squad in the NBA. They host Toronto on Sunday for their next meeting.
With AFP
