Not a bad birthday present. Six days after celebrating his 20th birthday, Victor Wembanyama became the 5th youngest player in NBA history to achieve a triple-double on Wednesday, largely contributing to San Antonio’s victory in Detroit (130-108). The French prodigy was on fire: he piled up 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists… in just 21 minutes of play, Popovich taking care to spare him at the moment after an ankle scare in December.
Only Josh Giddey, LaMelo Ball, Markelle Fultz and Luka Doncic achieved this performance before their 20th birthday in the American League. On the other hand, Wemby establishes a new mark of precocity among the Spurs, and thus continues to fulfill the immense expectations which surrounded his debut in the NBA, him whose individual statistics are the opposite of the moribund results of his team.
The only franchise with inferior results this season, Detroit, deprived of its best element Cade Cunningham, was the perfect punching bag for the Frenchman, who attacked the match fully (6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists during the first quarter). time). Accustomed to matches with more than 10 points and 10 rebounds, Wembanyama also showed off his passing skills on Wednesday. He notably served a teammate with a ball slipped between the legs of an opponent, or even sent a magnificent one-handed laser pass from his camp to find Jeremy Sochan under the opponent’s basket.
“My favorite pass was the one between the legs,” smiled the gifted man at a press conference. We have tried different things since the start of the season, today we managed to play together and make the right choices. » The triple-double, “that’s the kind of thing I wanted to accomplish as a player,” he added.
“A very good passer”, appreciates Pop’
“He’s a very good passer, he was already one before this triple-double,” welcomed his coach Gregg Popovich. We focused on him on offense during his minutes. We learn how he likes to receive the ball, where he feels most comfortable. The others learn how to move around him. »
Quickly in front, the Spurs gradually broke away and never trembled on the Pistons floor to achieve their 6th success (30 defeats), however remaining last in the west. Friday, they will host Charlotte, another bottom team, to confirm.