Decisive on both sides of the floor, Victor Wembanyama was one of the major architects of the Spurs’ easy success against a Memphis Grizzlies team decimated by injuries, last night in Tennessee (87-102). With 18 points (best scorer of the match), 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 blocks, and even a little inside physically, he continues his harvest of numbers in the NBA. In particular, he sets a new milestone: he becomes the 4th player in history, after Abdul-Jabbar, Robinson and Olajuwon, to reach the mark of 1000 points, 250 assists and 250 blocks in one season…
There are the numbers and there is an influence that goes well beyond, in his way of involving his teammates in the game, his role as a vocal leader, and above all the deterrence he exerts on opposing attacks. In the middle of the 3rd quarter, remaining on defense while his team tried to score a basket, he single-handedly faced 3 opponents arriving at full speed and preferring to pass the ball to each other rather than try their luck against Wemby… ” Yours ! No, yours! No, yours,” jokes Sean Elliott, the former Spurs player turned consultant, on TV.
Offensively, Victor Wembanyama was imprecise at three points (0 out of 5), but went to score a few baskets on his own near the circle which made people’s eyes widen, especially when he again performed a Shammgod, this dribble consisting of changing of direction and hand to attack the basket, completing it with a spin-move (turning on oneself while rolling around an opponent in order to avoid him).
Another Frenchman took advantage of this end-of-season meeting without any issues, between two teams already eliminated from the race for the final stages, to show off: Sidy Cissoko, after having spent the entire year or almost in the G-League (the competition hopes), played 21 minutes and scored 10 points, mainly dunks (as well as 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block). “He showed that he belongs to this League, he was decisive on both sides of the floor,” said his teammate Julian Champagnie. “He is hypercompetitive, he fights very hard and on every ball,” adds Sandro Mamukelashvili. He is a great player and great teammate. He had a great match and I expect even more from him in the future. »
With this success, the 5th in the last eight meetings, the Spurs avoid the shame of a distressing record: that of the fewest number of victories in a season in the history of the franchise. They are now at 20, as many as their worst year until then (in 1996-1997). There are three games left to go to do better, the next of which will be this evening during a trip to Oklahoma City. With or without Victor Wembanyama, sometimes preserved from back-to-back, these matches played from one day to the next? “I’m not sure it makes much sense to push him, we’ll see how he feels,” replies Texan coach Gregg Popovich.
