Victor Wembanyama returns with 40-point showing in Spurs win

DALLAS — Victor Vembanyama stood next to Julian Champagnie in front of the secretary's desk at the American Airlines Center, admiring his work.

His conclusion?

“That was great”.

A few minutes earlier, the Frenchman had falsified by sending PJ Washington skyward and then made one dunk toward the basket for a back-windmill dunk that rattled the microphone head, sending San Antonio Spurs the bench is furious. Walking on 125-92 stomping belonging Dallas MavericksOn Wednesday, Wembanyama showed off everything he has gleaned from a transformative summer that has changed him physically and mentally.

“[I was] I have much more self-control,” Vembanyama said. “The mind doesn’t bother me. [that] because I've seen what it's like to face the potential loss of a lot, be it your career or your health. So I don't take it for granted anymore. Body? Now I have more fun because it's not so hard for me to move. “I know I still have to get better and I’m still going to get better.”

Blocks, dunks, shots, polished footwork and post moves – not to mention an intuition for how to best use them – belied the fact that Wembanyama had not played in an NBA game for 8 months and 11 days before the win over the Mavericks. There was no residual rust as Vembanyama played rough, becoming the first player since 1977–78 to score 40 points with 15 rebounds, 3 blocks and 0 assists on 70% shooting from the field.

Wembanyama's 40 points are the most by a player in a first season in San Antonio franchise history.

“He's been out eight months,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “So you saw him take advantage of the opportunity and make a spectacular play. But honestly, the most impressive line [is] zero revolutions. The amount of fundamentally correct plays he made tonight was impressive.”

Dallas started the game with their big lineup, including Anthony Davis And Derek Lively II recruitment of the forward zone. Vembanyama tore through the pack, hitting 4 of 5 shots and scoring 11 points with a block in the first frame. Simulating a pass on the wing Harrison BarnesWembanyama freezes first overall draft pick Cooper Flagg just enough to step on a newbie when throwing a tomahawk. Soon after this, Wembanyama received number two. Dylan Harper for his first career assist. The Frenchman faked Lively to lift it into the air before throwing it back to the Spurs opener at the top of the key.

Harper immediately tossed it back to Wembanyama, favoring Lively with both hands.

“Man, this guy is 7-3,” Davis said. “I think some of the infractions were a little questionable. But when he's 7-3 and he's standing in front of you, no one is going to block the shot. He hits from above. At that point you're just praying he doesn't miss.”

It's difficult now that Wembanyama's teammates have found ways to ensure he has a high shooting percentage. 8:28 left until intermission, sophomore guard Stephon Castle shot into an alley while crossing towards Vembanyama, who was rushing past Dwight Powellfor a reverse dunk. It is understood that last season's NBA Rookie of the Year spent the offseason working with Wembanyama on their chemistry.

Castle and Wembanyama either scored or had an assist for 42 of San Antonio's 60 first-half points, and the Spurs led by nine at the break.

“[It's] just a lot of repetition, a lot of watching film together,” Castle said. “I feel like it helps, but a lot of people miss it. Being able to watch film with a guy that you're going to make a lot of pick-and-rolls and have a lot of transition buckets with has definitely helped. Being able to know where he likes the ball with a double team, where they're going to get the ball from. Man, we've been working on this all summer and now it's all starting to come together.”

Wembanyama was perhaps the most impressive highlight of the night during a 10-point third quarter spurt in which he went 3-for-4 with 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Vembanyama hit Lively on the edge, which Castle quickly converted to initiate a fast break. The defender immediately threw the ball back to Wembanyama, who faked the ball before stepping back 3 as Lively fouled.

Vembanyama finished the game with four points to extend San Antonio's lead to 14 points.

“He's incredible. He’s a different player,” Flagg said. “You can't understand what it's like until you're on the court with him. This is something I've never seen before. “He was great tonight, but we need to do a better job of just taking away his looks and we can’t foul him as much as we did.”

Johnson replaced Wembanyama shortly after he hit a 13-foot fade to put Spurs up 30 points. At that point, Wembanyama admitted, he began to reflect on his summer transformation and the long journey that began in February with a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis.

“It feels like every day we are trying to lay a brick to build a huge mansion, and it feels like the job is done for the day,” Vembanyama said. “This is what we have been working on. This is what we've been fighting for for so long, and I just felt like it was the right fit. I felt like I belonged.”

“We needed to make a statement in the locker room. It felt like there was nothing more we could have done to help us today. It felt like we did everything that needed to be done. We felt ready and we felt like we weren't going to have any regrets about the things we should have worked on or the things we should have done in the summer. I was happy with the work we did and the preparation for this moment. Now that's it. The dice are rolled on the Western Conference.”