We’ve grown accustomed to Victor Wembanyama dismissing his own great performances when San Antonio loses, but this Thursday night he led his team to victory while displaying a historic exhibition of his unique skills. The French sensation had his second 5×5 game of his career while beating the Jazz 106 to 88.
The Spurs big man produced a stat line of 25 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks, which means he earned at least five in five categories. The last -and first- time he reached similar numbers was during a loss against the Los Angeles Lakers back on February 23.
His Thursday night’s exhibition made him only the third player with multiple 5×5 games all time, joining an elite club which consists of Houston icon Hakeem Olajuwon (who earned six) and Andrei Kirilenko, with three to his name.
🚨Victor Wembanyama with an UNREAL 5×5 night 🚨
🔥25 Points
🔥9 Rebounds
🔥7 Assists
🔥5 Steals
🔥5 Blocks pic.twitter.com/hYXbfSWR4e— NBA TV (@NBATV) November 1, 2024
Despite his record, Wembanyama didn’t attract too much attention to it. “It tells me I need to get my standards up when I don’t get 5x5s because I am able to help my team in all those areas. It should be a consistent thing,” he said, according to the San Antonio Express-News. “As I have said before, it is something we must have, something I must have more often to help my team.”
While his own teammate Chris Paul contributed with 19 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds for San Antonio, his rivals were led by Collin Sexton, who dropped 16 points in total, with Utah’s John Collins also adding 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Thursday’s game had a different outcome that Wednesday’s against OKC. Once the game was over against the Thunder, Wemby was asked to reflect on a match which included two of his worst stats in an NBA game: career-low six-point game with only one field goal dropped all night. He knew that Oklahoma didn’t concede an inch for him to get the shots he wanted.
“I’m not getting easy shots,” said the San Antonio star. “I have to be way better at preparing. Of course, my shot feels good. Physically, I feel good. But I need to be much better at preparing and getting conditions to have those easy shots.”
Thunder big man Chet Holmgren recently won first battle of the season against the current Rookie of the Year
Last season, both Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama led the race for the Rookie of the Year award, but it eventually ended up in the French player’s hands. Although it was deserving of his first-year efforts, the Thunder center continues to improve his game and is establishing himself as one of the best big men in the NBA.
This Wednesday evening, we witnessed this season’s first battle between these two sophomore centers, in which Chet led a suffocating defensive effort which led to Oklahoma City beating San Antonio 105-93. Even though Holmgren was clearly better in their first clash of the campaign, he denied any claims of there being a rivalry against Wemby.
“Because the NBA is a business, and the league has been built around players playing basketball,” the 22-year-old said. “It’s about getting people to come and watch the games. That’s one of the ways they do it: by advertising the players. I just see it as a form of advertisement. It doesn’t change what our mission is. We’re trying to win the basketball games. The NBA is gonna handle the business around it.”
In Wednesday night’s efforts, as the primary defender Holmgren was able to limit the Spurs’ shooter to 10 points on 4-for-17 attempts from the floor and 0-for-7 from beyond the arc. OKC ended the match with 18 steals, nine of them in each half of the contest.
