The Washington Wizards had no answer for Victor Wembanyama on Wednesday night.
The San Antonio Spurs star scored a career-high 50 points in their 139-130 win over the Wizards at the Frost Bank Center. It was by far the best performance of Wembanyama’s young career, shattering his previous career-high of 40. He also drained eight 3-pointers in the win and shot 18-29 from the field.
The performance came after a 34-point performance on Monday against the Sacramento Kings. The former No. 1 overall draft pick is now the first Spurs player to have a 50-point game since LaMarcus Aldridge did so in 2019. He is also the fourth-youngest player in league history to drop 50 points in a game, behind only Devin Booker. , LeBron James and Brandon Jennings.
The two teams were locked together in the first half and went into the locker room tied at 67-67. However, Wembanyama and Spurs blew the game wide open in the third quarter. They nearly doubled the Wizards’ points total and ended the period with a huge 23-7 deficit. Washington also made just two field goals in the final six minutes of the quarter. Wembanyama had 17 points in the period alone, including three three-pointers.
Wembanyama also wasted no time in reaching the 50-point mark in the fourth quarter. After a layup and three quick free throws, Wembanyama drilled an easy 18-footer from the wing over Corey Kispert to officially hit 50 for the first time in his career. That gave Spurs a 17-point lead at the time.
He left the match shortly afterwards when it looked like Spurs would cruise to victory. But after the Wizards cut the score to 10 points with just under five minutes remaining, Wembanyama re-entered the game to cap off the nine-point win.
Jordan Poole led the Wizards with 42 points in the loss. He also shot 6-of-9 from behind the arc. Kispert added 19 points off the bench and Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and 13 rebounds. The Wizards, who have lost six straight games, are now 2-8 on the season.
Devin Vassell added 17 points off the bench, joining Wembanyama’s 50-man for Spurs. Julian Champagnie finished with 12 points and Harrison Barnes had 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Spurs are still without head coach Gregg Popovich and are led by interim coach Mitch Johnson. The team announced Wednesday that Popovich suffered a mild stroke earlier this month and is “expected to make a full recovery.” There is still no timeline for his return.
San Antonio will be in court next Friday when it hosts the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Cup.
