In the Spurs’ NBA Summer League Loss to Trail Blazers, Victor Wembanyama Scores Season-Low 27 Points
In the Spurs’ NBA Summer League Loss to Trail Blazers, Victor Wembanyama Scores Season-Low 27 Points
On Sunday night in Las Vegas, the Spurs were almost able to pull off a comeback thanks to Victor Wembanyama. There was no reason to go into overdrive.
On Sunday night, Victor Wembanyama took over for the first time in his two Summer League games in Las Vegas. However, despite the French phenom’s improved play, the San Antonio Spurs still lost 85-80 to the Portland Trail Blazers at the Thomas & Mack Centre.
Wembanyama scored 27 points, pulled down 12 boards, and blocked 3 shots. He made 9 of 14 shots overall and 2 of 4 three-point attempts.
Wembanyama became the first French player ever selected first overall in the NBA Draught when the San Antonio Spurs selected him last month.
The 7-foot-4-inch centre has been hailed as the most exciting player in the NBA since LeBron James. He just finished an overseas season in which he led the French LNB Pro A League in scoring, rebounding, and blocking, earning him the MVP award.
Upon his arrival in Las Vegas, Wembanyama was propelled into the spotlight and even got into a minor incident with music sensation Britney Spears.
NBA greats like Jerry West and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were in the stands for his debut on Friday, making it only the second time a Summer League session has sold out in advance. Even before Wembanyama’s own game, ESPN kept airing live looks at him warming up.
However, Wembanyama’s first season was a bit underwhelming. He had nine points, eight boards, and five blocks on the night. His field goal percentage was 15% (2-13). But on Sunday, everything changed.
Again, Wembanyama’s start was slow, but so was everyone else’s. After one period, the Trail Blazers led, 19-8. After Wembanyama missed a pair of free throws to open the quarter, he made up for it by sinking a midrange jumper.
Wembanyama didn’t start to relax and look like himself until the second quarter. He scored 11 points by halftime, comfortably surpassing his total from Friday, and had no trouble maintaining his dominance of the court.
In one play, he made a block on one end and a dunk on the other in rapid succession.
Another insane move he made was a putback dunk over a Trail Blazers opponent.
Wembanyama carried that into the second half, drawing a foul while showing some muscle by putting back his own miss through Trail Blazers centre Ibou Badji.
Wembanyama scored six more points in the third quarter, but the Spurs still trailed by 14 at the half.
The Spurs came storming back in the fourth quarter, and with under two minutes to play, they tied the game on a 3-pointer by Wembanyama. That, though, was the closest they came. The Trail Blazers pulled out a five-point victory to even their Summer League record at 1-1.
For the losing Spurs, Dominick Barlow scored 17 points. In the end, Blake Wesley contributed 14 points. Wembanyama was the only other Spurs player to score in double figures, joining those two.
Michael Devoe scored 29 points to lead the Trail Blazers. He was 10 for 17 from the field. Both Jabari Walker and Duop Rupert contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds to the team total.
