In the wake of his major performance in Toronto two days ago, Victor Wembanyama produced a first half of very high quality last night during the Spurs' trip to Dallas (20 points in particular during the first act ).
But the rest was not of the same level, neither for him nor for the Spurs, and the Texans were irreparably lost in the score, to end up dropped on the scoreboard (93-116).
The rookie continues to show why he is a rising STAR!
🤩🌟@wemby |
#PorVida |
@Spurs |
@BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/P5WrutbLWp
— Bally Sports San Antonio (@BallySportsSA) February 15, 2024
The learning continues for this young team and for its French, which has however already reached significant milestones.
In Dallas, for example, he crossed the milestone of 1,000 points scored in the NBA.
In just 49 games, his first 49.
In recent years, only Zion Williamson, Luka Doncic and Joël Embiid have reached this mark during their first five meetings.
Victor Wembanyama does even better than a local legend: Tim Duncan had “only” scored 929 points in his first 50 appearances in the NBA.
⭐️ 1,000 career points for @wemby!
⭐️ pic.twitter.com/euNBDgOB8l
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) February 15, 2024
No one, and especially not his coach Gregg Popovich, will blame him for having experienced a more delicate second act, which can be explained as much by the fatigue accumulated due to the pace of the competition, as by the level of the Mavericks who establish themselves as a very strong candidate for the final stages.
“We can’t treat Victor like I treated David (Robinson), says Popovich.
To David, I would have said: ''come on!'' Victor had 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks tonight.
Come on, in 27 minutes!
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“They played like Hall of Famers”
The first act again saw the number 1 of the last Draft dominate on the floor, notably thanks to two disconcertingly easy three-point baskets.
Opened in the arm during an intervention with an opponent, he returns to the edge to be treated.
This does not prevent him from continuing to score, reaching 20 points at the end of the first act.
Read alsoNBA: when will the legendary quadruple-double for Victor Wembanyama?
The Mavericks then wake up, notably under the leadership of their two stars, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
“Facing this type of player, we know that we are not going to prevent them from scoring every time,” analyzes Victor Wembanyama.
But we have to be tenacious.
Each interception, each opposing action stopped is a small victory, and we must have as many as possible.
» “They played like Hall of Famers, they were fantastic and there wasn't much to do against them,” declared an admiring Popovich, also very happy to be able to explain the defeat of his team by the genius of these two basketball players.
For Victor Wembanyama, the weekend will constitute a total discovery: he will participate in the All-Star weekend, this high mass of the NBA which brings together the major figures of the competition.
“I started to think about it a little bit, I'm going to have a pretty busy schedule,” he says.
It's going to be a cool experience.
Intense but nice.
I wouldn't have time to party.
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