Victor Wembanyama leads Spurs to first start with 5-0 record
San Antonio, led by its star Victor Wembanyama, is having the best start to a season in its 50 years in the NBA.
SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama helped the San Antonio Spurs reach a historic milestone for the franchise on Thursday, scoring a team-high 26 points, with 18 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 blocks, in the Spurs’ 107-101 victory over the Miami Heat, giving them their first 5-0 start to the season in club history.
San Antonio reserved its best start for its 50th season in the NBA.
“It feels great,” Wembanyama admitted. “It’s not a coincidence. These five wins were not the result of chance. We earned them. We started the season strong and we need to keep this streak going for as long as possible.”
Against a Heat on a roll, who entered the game at the Frost Bank Center with an average of 131.5 points (the highest in the league), San Antonio limited the visitors to their lowest scoring of the season, including a 14-point third quarter. In the decisive moments, the Spurs saw a 15-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter disappear, leaving them just one point behind, as Miami began a 17-1 run led by Bam Adebayo, who scored 12 of his season-high 31 points in that period.
Still, Wembanyama and the Spurs persevered, with the Frenchman recording all five of his blocks in the second half, including three in the fourth quarter. Wembanyama let out a triumphant shout before the packed stadium crowd of 18,702, just after falling to the ground and celebrating with 14.9 seconds remaining and his team five points up.
“At that moment, I felt like it was like the final point, when we had a 99% chance of winning the game,” Wembanyama said. “I just got that energy. It feels great because it was a tough game and it’s good to feel this relief and share it with these people. I was thinking about the 5-0 record, the history of the Spurs and I felt proud to be a Spur at that moment.”
The performance against the Heat marked Wembanyama’s third career game with at least 25 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks, putting him third in Spurs history behind Hall of Famers David Robinson (eight) and Tim Duncan (six), according to AM850 Research. Averaging 30.2 points, 14.6 rebounds and 4.8 blocks, Wembanyama is the second player in NBA history, after Bob McAdoo (1975), to average at least 30 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks in the first five games of a season since 1973-74, when blocks became an official statistic.
Wenbanyama wasn’t the only Spurs player who shined in another close game for San Antonio. Coming off his NBA Rookie of the Year season, second-year guard Stephon Castle contributed 21 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals, and Devin Vassell added 17 points, nine rebounds and a pair of clutch three-pointers in the final minutes.
“Honestly, I’m sick of losing,” said Vassell, the Spurs’ 2020 first-round pick who has yet to make his NBA playoff debut. “I’ve been here a long time and it’s been quite an odyssey, I can say that. I’ve seen this many times. That team goes on scoring streaks and maybe (coach) Mitch (Johnson) recorded on video that I didn’t dive. Maybe I didn’t go for that fumble. I didn’t do the little things. Those little things help you win these games, and that’s what we need. The little details, those little insignificant things, they help us win games, and that’s what happened this time. night.”
Aside from a 33-point drubbing of the Dallas Mavericks in the opening game, San Antonio has been forced to fight to maintain a lead late in most of its games this season. But the Spurs have found a way to outdo their rivals in the decisive moments.
“When we play Miami, it’s going to be a tough game no matter what,” Castle said. “So I thought we couldn’t afford anything other than to fight until the end and find a way to win games. We had a considerable lead in the second half, but they came back and took the lead. In games like this, you can never give up. I’m glad we were able to show our grit and tenacity.”
Johnson said he shared that sentiment about his team, but singled out Wembanyama for his defensive impact in the second half. The 21-year-old played nearly 40 minutes in San Antonio’s most physical game to date. The Spurs’ top four opponents — the Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors — are a combined 3-16. Therefore, Miami (3-2) represented San Antonio’s biggest challenge of the season.
Wembanyama, for his part, handled the Heat’s physical intensity and unconventional, fast-paced style of play with apparent ease. After the game, Wembanyama met with several teammates for the postgame interview, and the group closed it with a chant of “Go Spurs!” that resonated throughout the pavilion.
“If we look back at the distance he covered, we saw that he put up a ton of pick-and-rolls and ran to the basket,” Johnson said. “The pace of the game is dizzying. The game didn’t stop at any point and was very physical on both sides of the court. That he held on like that… I think there was a moment in the last quarter when he got tired. We took him out. He returned to the court, and I find it admirable. That he played 40 minutes with that level of consistency and efficiency was impressive.”
