NBA: Victor Wembanyama scores career-high 50 points in Spurs win over Wizards
San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) grabs a rebound during the first half against the Washington Wizards at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama delivered a career-best performance on Wednesday night, scoring 50 points—along with a career-high eight 3-pointers—in a 139-130 victory over the Washington Wizards.
"My first thought is eventually I want the rest of our performances, the rest of our games, to overshadow this one," Wembanyama said. "I want to make it where in the future, [this is] just another one," News.Az reports, citing ESPN.Prior to Wembanyama, the past three 50-point games produced by Spurs came in overtime outings. David Robinson in 1994 logged the franchise's most recent 50-point performance in regulation.
At 20 years and 314 days, Wembanyama is the fourth-youngest player to score 50 points. At 7-foot-4, he's also the tallest to do so.
Wembanyama's previous career high was 40 points in a 130-126 overtime victory against the New York Knicks in March of last season.
He made his presence felt virtually from the onset Wednesday, assisting or scoring on four consecutive field goals over the first 67 seconds as San Antonio seized a 13-3 lead.
"The big fella, man, when he comes out with that mindset, it's a hard opportunity to deal with," Spurs forward Julian Champagnie said. "Big praise to him, big shoutout to him. He's working on his game. I don't know what it was that he took personal, but he took something personal, went out there and hooped."
Wembanyama inflicted most of the damage in the third quarter, shooting a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-4 from long range for 19 points to go with four rebounds, one assist and a block.
He piled up nearly half his points on the night from beyond the arc, where he hit 8-of-16.
"If you looked at them, they were good, rhythm shots," Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson said. "The gravity that he occupies, or pulls, is unique. So, when he makes shots away from the basket, it's just going to pull that gravity, for sure."
Wembanyama was 18-of-29 from the field and added 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in 32 minutes en route to becoming the first player in league history with 20 3-pointers and 13 blocks over a three-game span.





