Wembanyama leads Spurs past Mavericks with 52 points, 24 rebounds
The 21-year-old center joined Wilt Chamberlain and Bob McAdoo as the only players to record a 50-20-5 stat line in NBA history.
By Aaron Foster ·
Victor Wembanyama scored 52 points and grabbed 24 rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 112-111 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night in San Antonio. The performance also included eight blocks, extending the Spurs' winning streak to six games.
According to Basketball Reference, Wembanyama is one of only three players in league history to post a stat line of 50 points, 20 rebounds, and five blocks. Wilt Chamberlain and Bob McAdoo are the only other players to achieve that specific combination. Wembanyama noted that he played with an illness during the game and rolled his ankle, but he said the weakness from the virus had faded by the time he took the floor.
“It should be like this more often,” Wembanyama said. “I am still (sick), but I don’t have the weakness anymore when you get a virus.”
Dylan Harper contributed 21 points, while Stephon Castle added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Harper compared Wembanyama’s resilience to the comic book character Superman after Wembanyama recovered from his ankle injury without missing a step. “That’s greatness,” Harper said. “He’s Superman. He rolls an ankle and pops right up and acts like nothing happened.”
The Spurs currently hold a 6-2 record and rank fifth in the Western Conference. Head coach Mitch Johnson said the team is returning to the style of play that carried them to the NBA Cup final last season. “We’re starting to finally play the brand of basketball that we know how and how we should play,” Johnson said. The team lost that final in December to the New York Knicks by a score of 124-113.
The Spurs will play the Sacramento Kings on Friday at 9 p.m. Central Time. That contest marks their first matchup in the NBA Cup tournament this season.
