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Michael C. Wright
multiple authors
San Antonio — Spurs star Victor Wembanyama Returned after an absence of one match on Saturday against charlotte hornets And showed his full arsenal of skills in leading San Antonio 115-102 The win to end a six-game homestand at Frost Bank Center.
Wembanyama scored a game-high 32 points to go along with 12 rebounds, eight assists, four blocks and two steals. The performance marked Wembanyama’s second career outing with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, multiple blocks and as many steals, tying him for the fourth consecutive game. george gervin That’s the third-most such games in franchise history, according to ESPN Research. Wembanyama is behind Tim Duncan (9) and David Robinson (19).
“In general it’s just progress,” Vembanyama said. “There were many aspects of the game where we dominated them, and it showed because we won three out of four quarters.”
San Antonio improves to a league-best 17-2 since Feb. 1, including a 5-1 mark during a six-game homestand.
“Going through these games and learning about other teams and finding out about ourselves has been really good for us,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “We’ve had to participate in a lot of different types of games, whether it’s getting a little open or covering a lot of distance defensively, matching some physicality, execution late in the game, seeing different ways that guys guard us. Hopefully all of those experiences are lessons that we’ll turn into knowledge and intelligence moving forward.”
Vembanyama started the game strongly, scoring 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the first quarter, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. He had a game-high 18 points at halftime.
He demonstrated his athletic skills by finding the center in the third quarter Luke Cornett For two alley-oops. In the fourth quarter, Vembanyama made a great start stephen castleWho caught it for a two-handed reverse dunk.
“It’s another weapon,” Vembanyama said of his playmaking. “Most of the time my playmaking doesn’t come from moving the ball or even touching it, I get people open based on my positioning with my gravity. But I can do that too.”
Vembanyama was eliminated after losing on Thursday denver nuggets Due to right ankle pain after testing during pregame warmups. But the organization was optimistic he would return for Saturday’s match against the Hornets.
Wembanyama can miss three more games of the regular season before becoming ineligible for NBA awards.
“Victor has a long list of things he wants to do that are probably significant in the history of basketball,” Johnson said. “They’re all important to me too. There’s a lot that goes into it, and sometimes, we have to make tough decisions. Because in that long list, there are still things that we prioritize and put at the top of the list. But I think that guy will keep challenging us as long as we’re all here to satisfy that desire to check things off that list.”
spurs rookie guard dylan harper Missed Saturday’s contest with a right calf injury. Johnson said there are no long-term concerns over Harper’s injury. Harper missed 10 games in November due to a left calf strain.
