The French rookie Victor Wembanyama, from the height of his 2.24 m, once again loomed over the match against San Antonio, bottom of the Western Conference, who snatched victory in the last second from the Denver Nuggets, leaders before the match, 121 to 120, Friday during an NBA evening which saw the Cleveland Cavaliers secure their place in the play-offs by beating the Indiana Pacers 129 to 120.
“Victor is Victor.” This formula from his coach Gregg Popovich sums up the new performance of Wemby, who scored 34 points, took 12 rebounds, delivered 5 assists and managed 2 blocks within a team which managed to make up 23 points behind, which it counted at the start of the third quarter, to blow away the Nuggets' victory by one point thanks to a basket from Devonte' Graham... less than a second from the buzzer! “He did a lot of good things, but he couldn’t have done it without his teammates,” added the coach, not wanting to leave all the coverage to him.
The No.1 spot flies to Denver. The Nuggets, despite Jamal Murray's 35 points, gave up the No. 1 place in the Western Conference to the Oklahoma City Thunder, clear winner of the Milwaukee Bucks (125-107). The Minnesota Timberwolves, who beat the Atlanta Hawks by a short head (109-106), also passed them in front. Nikola Jokic's teammates, now third in the Western Conference, were already assured of a place in the play-offs before the match.
The Cavaliers in the play-offs. The Cleveland Cavaliers, by beating the Indiana Pacers (129-120), are guaranteed to maintain their 4th place in the Eastern Conference and go directly to the play-offs. They can even go for 3rd place, which the Knicks occupy after their success over the Nets (111-107) in the New York derby. Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points for the Cavs, who scored 70 points in the first half alone.
The Sixers still in the race for the play-offs. The Philadelphia 76ers signed Joel Embiid with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists, a valuable victory against the Orlando Magic (125-113) which allows them to stay in the race for a direct place in the play-offs. The 76ers, to whom the return at the beginning of April of their star and MVP Joel Embiid after two months of absence and a knee operation in February, did a lot of good, are at seven victories in a row, which coincide with the return
New Orleans and Phoenix, a place for two. The New Orleans Pelicans (6th) and the Phoenix Suns (7th) are competing for sixth place, the last place directly qualifying for the play-offs, in the Western Conference. Both franchises won away on Friday, the Pelicans at the Golden State Warriors (114-109) and the Suns at Sacramento (108-107). New Orleans won thanks to a stratospheric second quarter (45-22), the Suns reversing the situation in the last quarter (30-22).