Even the referees did not initially believe it possible: Victor Wembanyama had just risen to a crazy height, at the very end of overtime, to block a shot from Schröder which would give Brooklyn the advantage again. The Frenchman, as often, appeared out of nowhere to slam the ball against the board. After checking the video, the three referees of the match had to face the facts: Victor Wembanyama’s counter was completely legal, the 2.22 meter rookie had touched the ball before it bounced against the window.
Wemby put together a HISTORIC performance in the Spurs overtime win against the Nets! 👽
33 PTS | 15 REB | 7 AST | 7 BLK | 14-26 FG
Victor Wembanyama is the first player in NBA history with 30+ points, 15+ rebounds, 5+ assists, and 5+ blocks while shooting 50% FG in a game 📈 pic.twitter.com/W5rtw2RvDT
— NBA (@NBA) March 18, 2024
San Antonio thus saved its small point lead this Sunday, retained possession of the ball, and would score following to secure the victory against Brooklyn (122-115), the 15th for the Spurs this season but perhaps the one where Wemby was the most decisive in key moments.
“My best Bordeaux are older than him!” »
The statistics sheet once again reached new heights (33 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists, 7 blocks) and testifies to the success, at only 20 years old, of this Frenchman who arrived as a star and who confirms game after game the expectations that weigh on his shoulders. “He is still very young, all my best Bordeaux are older than him! “, jokes an admiring Gregg Popovich. “I’m far from being at my best,” says Victor Wembanyama without boasting.
Victor Wembanyama records his 5th game of the season with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks. Nobody does it better than him. No one, apart from him, has had better than 2 games with such a stat line this season. The Frenchman is also the second this season, after Joel Embiid (and only the 4th in 5 years), to reach the mark of 30-15-5-5. He is also the first in NBA history to accumulate these stats and 50% shooting success (53% yesterday), an element that must be put into perspective because his position allows him to try his luck closer to the basket, therefore with more chances to score.
“Looking back, I can see my progress,” he notes. What I did this evening were certainly things that I would not have been able to do at the start of the season. And I don’t see my progress stopping anytime soon. There is much to correct and improve. » Against the Nets, we can barely discuss his three-point success (1 out of 7), yet one of his strong points over the last two months, and a few turnovers (4). For the rest, it is just perfect and the NBA must start to get scared seeing that the minutes spent on the floor are gradually increasing: 36 yesterday.
Many highlights
“He shows us things that none of us have seen before,” says Gregg Popovich. He becomes more and more solid, disciplined, accustomed to the contacts and the attention he arouses. It’s a difficult position for him, but he handles it all with great class and intelligence. » Intelligence is that of adapting to the defenses which try almost all the recipes to limit its influence. But Victor Wembanyama is a threat on both ends of the floor, and his size is difficult to counter.
Against the Nets, he starts by countering Bridges, then turns Claxton crazy, who finds no solution other than a completely missed shot. Wembanyama then brings the entire room in Austin, where the meeting was relocated to develop the Spurs fan base, to its feet, by going to the basket with vigor. During the second quarter, he attracted the entire defense to serve Osman, scoring a layup done backwards, then intervened against Cam Thomas with an authoritarian arm movement.
The second half is the same. The Spurs are almost never left behind and the French giant works hard to keep its team afloat. He starts by rolling the ball behind his back to score, then completes an alley-oop from Vassell. In the last act, he made the whole room laugh by inheriting a ball under the circle, hesitating to make a pass before realizing that he only had to extend his arm to reach the circle.
The Spurs, once trailing by 10 points, were brought back into the game by an anti-play gesture from Day’Ron Sharpe on Sochan who gave them free throws and woke up the Texan team. San Antonio followed up with a 17-3 which put them back in front. We know the rest: Wembanyama, after having already saved a first basket by blocking Finney-Smith, did it again 25 seconds from the end of overtime against Schröder. The referees went to watch the action several times on video, and we suspect they just wanted to have fun because it was so beautiful.
