Victor Wembanyama posted career highs with 52 points and 24 rebounds, sparking MVP chants at Frost Bank Center as the San Antonio Spurs edged the Dallas Mavericks 112-111 on Wednesday. He packed a full night’s work into his first 17 minutes.
“It’s just figuring things out,” Wembanyama said. “Sometimes, you’re one step ahead. Also, I haven’t been feeling great lately. I’m sick. I felt like I got my legs back. So, it should be more like this more often.”
Wembanyama started red-hot, scoring 10 of San Antonio’s first 12 points. He poured in 29 points over nearly 17 minutes of the first half, his second-highest scoring output in any half of his career. Only a 37-point first half against the Los Angeles Lakers in February topped it.
More than half of his first-half points came at the foul line. Wembanyama made all 15 of his free throws, tying James Harden‘s 2019 mark for the most without a miss in a first half during the play-by-play era, which dates to 1997-98.
He also recorded 15 rebounds and five blocks in that first half, when San Antonio led 68-51. The 22-year-old became the first player to record at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in a half.
Wembanyama finished with eight blocks, the most in a 50-plus-point game since blocks became an official statistic in 1973-74.
A historic line
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson praised the complete performance. “Twenty-four rebounds, nine offensive rebounds,” Johnson said. “Excluding the 3s, he was 15-for-20 from the field, which means he was all over the basket area and around the paint. He was a man tonight, and his teammates rewarded him quite a bit. He got rewarded in a variety of ways by just dominating both ends.”
Wembanyama became the first player with at least 50 points and 20 rebounds in a one-point win since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964. He is just the third player in NBA history with such a line, joining Elgin Baylor. He also became the fifth player in league history with multiple 50-point games at age 22 or younger, having scored 50 in a win over the Washington Wizards in November 2024. Wembanyama further matched Bob McAdoo, who did it in 1974, as the only other player since blocks became official with at least 50 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in a game.
Told that his stat line compared to Chamberlain’s past performances, Spurs guard Dylan Harper did not hold back. “He’s basically Wilt,” Harper said. “The other team tries to do everything [to stop Wembanyama]. They throw out any adjustment, every adjustment. It’s hard to keep big fella out of the paint. He’s so dominant when he screens and rolls. He knows how to get to his spots. He’s great at the free throw line. So, for us, it’s just how do we get him the ball and how do we get the low man away from him?”
Defensive dominance
Wembanyama’s defense may have been the most eye-catching part of the night. Over 13 seconds in the second quarter, he swatted away three consecutive shots from Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford on the same possession.
Flagg opened the sequence with an eight-foot floater, which Wembanyama sent into the crowd opposite the Dallas bench. Wembanyama then blocked Washington’s pull-up attempt into a group of fans behind the Mavericks’ basket. Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox collected the third block of the sequence.
“If I got blocked three times in a row, I feel like I’d be pretty upset,” Harper said. “But that’s Vic. He takes pride on the defensive side and things like that are just natural to him.”
Dallas shot a combined 2-of-13 in the first half when Wembanyama contested its attempts, with the average field goal coming from 5.5 feet.
Ankle scare and late push
With 9:11 left, Wembanyama rolled his right ankle, creating a scary moment for San Antonio. He subbed out with the Spurs ahead 94-87. The Mavericks cut the deficit to one point, 100-99, with 6:05 remaining on a Flagg alley-oop dunk. Wembanyama returned and closed out the game with 10 points down the stretch.
“He’s Superman,” Harper said. “He rolls his ankle and pops right up and acts like nothing happened. I’ve never seen [something] like that, but that’s a testament to how he takes care of his body.”
Wembanyama said he was “feeling fine” when asked about the ankle. He called the play “the moment that stands out” because “both teams were really fighting at this moment, and they stepped up their physicality and forced us to step up ours.”
No player has produced more points, rebounds or blocks in a game this season than Wembanyama, who tied or set NBA highs in all three categories against the Mavericks. San Antonio outscored Dallas 87-64 while he was on the floor but managed only a minus-22 when he sat.
Johnson credited the team’s progress as the season unfolds. “I think he’s settled into the season like we all have,” Johnson said of Wembanyama. “We just had to make sure we got to a good spot in terms of this team needed to get to where our feet were. There’s a lot with this team that has potential and there’s a lot this team had to get to the starting blocks for the season. We’re starting to finally play the brand of basketball that we know how and how we should play.”