Victor Wembanyama has had a great career as he plays his fourth season in the NBA. But nothing equals what he did on Wednesday. The San Antonio Spurs superstar set a new career-high in scoring with 52 points plus 24 rebounds and 8 blocks in a 112-111 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. No player in NBA history has recorded those totals since blocks became an official statistic in 1973, and only one other player had even recorded a 50-20-5 game (Bob McAdoo, February 22, 1974). The game came down to the final possessions, with Wembanyama scoring a free throw to give the Spurs the lead and Kyrie Irving missing a goal that could have won the game just before the buzzer. for Irving, who had PJ Washington unprotected on the perimeter but opted for a contested jump shot that missed the rim. Wembanyama was clearly on pace for history from the start of the game, and finally entered the locker room after becoming the first player to record at least 25 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks in a single half. It was a dominant half for both him and the Spurs, who led by 17 at halftime and by as many as 19 in the third quarter. The Mavericks, however, came back with Cooper Flagg and Naji Marshall leading the charge and at one point led by three in the fourth quarter. Spurs were in dire straits at the time, as Wembanyama briefly left the game with an apparent ankle injury. Wembanyama returned and helped Spurs hold on. San Antonio outscored Dallas by 23 points during its 34 minutes, and was outscored by 22 in the 14 minutes that backup center Luke Kornet played. Not only was Wembanyama temporarily lame, but he also revealed after the match that he has been dealing with an illness. He said he was still sick on Wednesday, but he no longer felt as weak as he did when dealing with a virus: “I haven’t been feeling very well lately. I’ve been sick. Today I felt like I was getting my legs back. It should be like that more often.” Wembanyama scored 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting with 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks in his previous game, a win over the Utah Jazz. In the game immediately before, they lost 43 in another win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. That was the second-highest scoring game of his career, and now it’s the third. The victory improves the Spurs’ record to 6-2, tied for fourth-best in a competitive Western Conference. The Mavericks are now tied for 10th place at 4-4.
