Finger after finger, Devin Vassell counted the ‘wow’ moments performed by Victor Wembanyama in his 42-point gem Thursday night that led the San Antonio Spurs to a 133-126 overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
‘The pass to Jeremy [Sochan], I sat there and said, ‘There’s no way.’ Way,’ Vassell said, laughing. ‘Then, of course, he throws it off the glass [to himself]. Are we playing in our backyard or are we playing in the NBA?’
Regardless of the venue, Wembanyama’s performance proved almost otherworldly. He became the first NBA player to connect seven triples while scoring six rebounds, five assists and four steals in the same game. The 20-year-old also joined Joel Embiid (November 2022) and Karl-Anthony Towns (December 2018) as the only players this century to score 60 points, 10 assists and 10 steals in a two-game span.
Wembanyama crowned the latest milestone in spectacular fashion against the Hawks by scoring eight of San Antonio’s 13 points in overtime, shooting 3-of-4 from the field and making both 3-point attempts. Wembanyama’s 29-foot shot off an assist from Chris Paul with 1:52 left in overtime gave San Antonio the lead for good. Wembanyama is tied with Hall of Fame guard Tony Parker for the eighth 40-plus point game in franchise history (3).
‘I thought he imposed his will tonight in a positive way,’ said Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson. ‘You can see him physically just for his size when he’s demonstrative, he plays with conviction, where he’s going to get the ball to the spots he wants to get to, and nothing’s going to stop him.’
Atlanta certainly struggled to do so in the first half in which Wembanyama scored 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, with three stoppages. Thursday night’s game marked the first time all season that all the players on San Antonio’s roster were healthy and available to play.
The Spurs took advantage, inserting Vassell into the starting line-up for the first time this season, while moving rookie Stephon Castle into a reserve role. Vassell scored 23 points on 5-of-7 from 3-point range, with four assists and two steals, as San Antonio tied its season high with 35 points off Atlanta’s 23 turnovers.
‘It was a big relief,’ Wembanyama said of the Spurs finally playing with a healthy roster. ‘Even before the game, I think some of my teammates were still undecided. So, we asked ourselves, ‘Is the day finally here?’’ Yes, it was. But it also proved to be Wembanyama’s night.
In the space of three minutes and four seconds of the fourth quarter, Wembanyama was the catalyst for 11 consecutive points, scoring nine of them himself in a variety of ways, from midcourt, near the basket and all the way to the three-point line, before capping off the explosion with an alley-oop to Sochan, who placed the ball with his back to the basket.
One possession earlier, Wembanyama stumbled down the lane as the clock ticked down on the shot clock with Clint Capela on defence and teammate Julian Champagnie standing under the basket. Wembanyama threw an alley-oop to himself off the backboard for a two-handed poster jam that left teammates still gaping well after the final buzzer.
‘Sometimes, you just feel it,’ Wembanyama said of the freelance nature of the game. ‘I think the way we read their coverage was good, and having good spacing to leave space on the isos [was good]. I think it was a combination of things. There’s no single answer, but the fact that we adapted to the different types of defence [that teams are playing], that’s what I’m talking about.’
Paul, meanwhile, finished with 12 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals, scoring his first basket of the night in the third quarter. Paul’s jump shot early in that period was recorded as his first made basket since the first quarter of Friday’s win in Portland.
Paul shot 4-of-4 against Atlanta, including a 25-foot jump shot to put the game on ice with 19.5 seconds left. It was Paul’s fourth career game with 10 or more points on 100 per cent shooting from the field. However, all Paul could talk about afterwards was Wembanyama.
‘That was crazy,’ Paul said, recalling Wembanyama’s auto-alley-oop. ‘We were talking about it in the locker room. I saw Julian cutting and thought he was going to pass it to him. When I saw him throw it off the backboard, I thought, ‘Damn, what’s Vic doing there?’ I tell you, almost every night he does something that makes you say, ‘Damn, that’s why they always talk about him.’’
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