Victor Wembanyama played his best individual game of the season, denying 61 points from All-Star guard Jalen Brunson to lead the San Antonio Spurs to an emotional victory.
Jalen Brunson continues to prove that he is one of the best scoring defenders in the NBA this season, scoring 61 points to nearly equal the New York Knicks club record in the match held on the morning of March 30.
But Brunson’s efforts were still not enough for the “rage” named Victor Wembanyama, the French “unicorn” rookie who shined brightly to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 130-126 overtime victory.
Victor Wembanyama confirmed his lead in the race for the Rookie of The Year title with another excellent match
Jalen Brunson’s 61 points are very “huge”. But on the other side of the court, Wembanyama had an equally excellent game with 40 points, 20 rebounds and also had 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
This is the first time in 31 years that the NBA has witnessed a rookie score 40 points and 20 rebounds in a match, something previously conquered by the legendary Shaquille O’Neal since 1993.
Watch highlights of Victor Wembanyama’s 40 points, 20 rebounds, 7 assists now
Besides being on par with “Shaq”, Wemby also became the only player in San Antonio Spurs history to have a game with 40 points, 20 rebounds and 5 assists.
Victor Wembanyama finished the game with 13-22 FG, including 4 3-pointers (4-9 3PT) and 10 successful free throws (10-12 FT) in 38 minutes on the court.
Jalen Brunson scored 61 points, 1 point short of equaling Carmelo Anthony’s record of 62 PTS scored for the New York Knicks.
Unfortunately, that effort was not enough to defeat the San Antonio Spurs on a very sublime Wemby day
“I always follow legends, great players and hope to one day be able to stand alongside them, to become one of them,” Victor Wembanyama shared after the match, bagging a series of career-highs.
“I am very grateful for this opportunity, for my teammates who always support and help me, and for the whole team. I know that I am on the right track and one day soon, I will go with this team to new heights.”
Wemby then did not forget to thank the San Antonio Spurs fans, the fans who were not afraid of the club’s poor performance and still filled the arena.
Victor Wembanyama in a ball dispute situation
Besides the eye-catching competition between two stars playing in two different positions, the match also witnessed two teams chasing the score in dramatic fashion.
Brunson’s excellence helped the New York Knicks erase the 18-point halftime gap and take the lead against the Spurs at the end of the fourth quarter (121-119 with more than 1 minute left in official time).
But right after that, Wembanyama had two “clutch” penalties to equalize the score and send the match into extra time.
Look back at the breathtaking ending of the match between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs here:
The two teams continued to struggle in 5 minutes of OT, however, Spurs proved to be slightly better than the Knicks in terms of scoring. Jalen Brunson had a chance to lead the team to victory with a final 3-point attempt but failed.
Thanks to that, San Antonio Spurs won the final 128-126, also the third consecutive victory for coach Gregg Popovich’s team.
