Victor Wembanyama played the game of his life while running a fever and nursing a fresh ankle sprain. The 22-year-old Frenchman dropped 52 points and grabbed 24 rebounds in a 112-111 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night. Wilt Chamberlain and Bob McAdoo join him as the sole athletes to record a 50-20-5 stat line, a feat this performance achieves. According to KSAT, the Spurs star joined this elite group after a night where he refused to quit despite feeling terrible.
The box score tells one story, but the conditions tell another. Wembanyama admitted he was still sick during the contest yet claimed his strength had returned. “I am still (sick), but I don’t have the weakness anymore when you get a virus,” Wembanyama said. He even rolled his ankle mid-game but popped right back up to keep dominating. His teammate Dylan Harper called the display “greatness” and labeled the big man “Superman” for ignoring the pain.
A Defensive Wall That Never Stops
Wembanyama not only scored; he completely shut down the Mavericks’ offense with eight blocks. The most stunning sequence happened in the second quarter when he swatted three shots in just 13 seconds. Dylan Harper noted that getting blocked that often would make anyone angry. “If I got blocked three times in a row, I feel like I’d be pretty upset,” Harper said, according to the Guardian.
Legendary big man Shaquille O’Neal saw the highlights and had nothing but praise for the young star. Shaq said on X, according to ClutchPoints, “We’ve never seen a player like him do the things that he can do.” He compared Wembanyama’s response to a bad game against Utah to the mindset of Kobe Bryant. By winning this game, the Spurs pushed their streak of victories to six, locking in fifth spot within the Western Conference.
The Final Shot and the Road Ahead
Dallas fought hard to steal the win, pulling within two points late in the fourth quarter. Kyrie Irving missed a potential go-ahead jumper with seconds left as time ran out. Wembanyama secured the win by sinking the go-ahead free throw with 24.2 seconds remaining. The Spurs now look ahead to Friday night when they play the Kings in Sacramento for the NBA Cup.
Head coach Mitch Johnson believes the team is finally playing the right way again. “We’re starting to finally play the brand of basketball that we know how and how we should play,” Johnson said. The Mavericks have now lost two straight games after holding a 19-point lead earlier in the third quarter. Wembanyama’s ability to perform under such physical stress suggests the Spurs are a serious threat to anyone they face.
