Victor Wembanyama produced his highest-scoring outing of the season on Saturday, taking a career-high 34 shots to finish with 43 points as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 121-111.
According to ESPN, the result was the first time San Antonio had won on a night when the 22-year-old Frenchman attempted 30 or more shots. On the two earlier occasions, the Spurs lost: a 117-114 defeat to the New York Knicks on Christmas Day 2024, when he scored 42 points from 31 attempts, and a 112-110 loss to the Timberwolves four days later, when he took 30 shots.
Wembanyama also recorded five blocks, making him the first Spurs player since David Robinson in 1996 to reach at least 40 points and five blocks in one game. ESPN noted that no NBA player had done so since Joel Embiid in 2022.
Much of his scoring came close to the basket. Of his 14 baskets inside the arc, 12 were from two feet or nearer, including four alley-oops and four dunks. He went three of eight from three-point range, with a corner three at 2:40 remaining proving his final score and stretching the lead to 118-107. Home fans began chanting "WemVP" with 5:23 left in the third quarter.
Second-year guard Dylan Harper added a regular-season career-high 25 points on nine-of-17 shooting and praised his teammate. "When he puts his imprint on the game, he's unstoppable," Harper said.
Wembanyama, Harper and De'Aaron Fox together accounted for 90 points, while San Antonio won the rebounding contest 49-38. Stephon Castle contributed four assists and a steal across 22 minutes despite battling a migraine.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson credited Wembanyama with improving quickly, saying his ability to combine with teammates makes him extremely difficult to stop.
Wembanyama, who struggled in the season-opening loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, has now scored 36 and 43 points in his last two games, with the Spurs stretching their winning streak to four. He declined to explain the reasons behind his growing comfort, suggesting that doing so would help opponents.
Minnesota were short-handed, playing without star guard Anthony Edwards because of a knee problem.