Was Chris Paul hiding in the body of a 2.24m giant on Sunday night in Sacramento? We can wonder in view of the new career record for assists (11) signed by Victor Wembanyama in the NBA to win a very close match against the Kings (125-127). Alley-oop triggered on a counter-attack like a playmaker, a golden offering to the opposite Nikola Jokic when he saw the double take arrive (each time for the Stephon Castle revelation), “Wemby” therefore delighted as never in passing.
The star interior of the France team took the opportunity to score the third triple-double of his NBA career, the first since February 2024, by also combining 34 points and 13 rebounds. All with divine marksmanship (11/17 including 5/9 from three points) plus three blocks in 37 minutes, not bad right? Two weeks after scoring 50 points against a stunned Wizards, Victor Wembanyama confirms that he is in great shape, even when he has to deal with a hell of a client like the Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis (25 points and 13 rebounds) on Sunday.
“In the fourth quarter, he acted like a man, he dominated,” greets coach Mitch Johnson, who still replaces Gregg Popovich on the Spurs bench. His greatest strength, which is also a weakness, is that he can do anything. When there are too many choices on the menu, it’s hard to choose. » And yes, it’s hard to be an alien.
The Spurs are still in the fight for the play-offs
Like this success full of character in California, after having taken water everywhere in the first quarter (42-28, 10th), the San Antonio Spurs are like “Wemby” on a nice dynamic, with five success in their last six matches.
A consistency so far light years from the previous season (60 defeats in 82 matches!) which allows them to remain in the race for the play-offs and the play-in (10th with a positive record of 11 wins and 9 defeats), which was difficult to imagine this summer given the jungle that is the Western Conference.
Our file on Victor Wembanyama
For comparison, the Texans would be 5th if they had the chance to play in the East. But our 20-year-old Frenchie is a man of XXL challenges, and the prospect of seeing him compete next spring against Jokic, Davis and company in a series of play-offs makes us salivate.
