The « French Heritage Night » did quite well at Spurs. Because facing his French compatriots Alexandre Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly, Victor Wembanyama simply delivered one of his career matches, finishing with his best scoring mark: 50 points at 18/29 on shots (including 8/16 from distance!) in 32 minutes, in addition to his 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Chants of “MVP, MVP” fell from the aisles of the Frost Bank Center midway through the 3rd quarter. Because this Wednesday, November 13, it was Victor Wembanyama against the rest of the world…
Following on from his last outing against the Kings on Monday, Victor Wembanyama started strong by making Jonas Valanciunas dance and giving his compatriot Alexandre Sarr a cold sweat. Under the eyes of the GM of the Blues and former Spurs player, Boris Diaw, the reigning rookie of the year – already author of 24 points in just 14 minutes in the first period (!) – continued his work after returning from the locker room. Before dropping his record of 40 points, established against the Knicks last March, with yet another long-distance shot on the nose of his Lithuanian opponent, at the end of the 3rd quarter.
Jordan Poole struggled
Well helped by Stephon Castle (10 points, 5 assists) and Chris Paul (9 points, 11 assists) in setting up the offensive game, “Wemby” and the Spurs were however slow to take cover.
“We lacked vigilance over the details and we were not always consistent”deplores interim coach Mitch Johnson, while the Spurs confirmed that Gregg Popovich had made a “small stroke”. “But we managed to make the difference thanks to our defense at the end of the first half and the 3rd quarter. »
During a major part of the meeting, Washington in fact remained in contact with San Antonio thanks to good long-distance skill (18/44 on shots). Jordan Poole put on the show with his 42 points at 15/22, replacing Bilal Coulibaly in the background of the Wizards’ attack, with only 6 points in 37 minutes.
Under the clamor of around a hundred people from the city’s international school and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), the Texans balanced their balance sheet with a 6th victory in 12 matches, before receiving the Lakers, Friday, for their first “NBA Cup” match.
WHAT TO REMEMBER
— Victor Wembanyama continues to write Spurs history. With his 50 points in 32 minutes, the former Nanterre player became the 8th Spurs player to score 50 points or more in a match. If he did not beat David Robinson’s 71 points, he got closer to the best French mark in the NBA, held by Tony Parker with his 55 points, on November 5, 2008 (129-125 victory for the Spurs against the Wolves). “It’s a sort of private club… I don’t know how many players are there, but it’s definitely something I’m proud of” reacted Wemby about his first game with 50 points and more.
– Alexandre Sarr suffered again. Dominated by Alperen Şengün among the Rockets on Monday, the Bordeaux interior suffered again against Victor Wembanyama. He finished with 12 points on 6/14 shots and 2 rebounds in 25 minutes. “Wemby is big, he shoots, he mixes pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop well but it’s a team effort to defend him”underlined Olivier Sarr’s little brother in the DC locker room.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
