Victor Wembanyama Makes History, Wows NBA Fans in Blowout Win vs. Lakers as LeBron, Luka Sit
On a night when the Los Angeles Lakers were light on star power with Luka Dončić, LeBron James and Austin Reaves all sitting out, San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama had a moment in the Hollywood spotlight with a historic performance at Crypto.com Arena.
Wembanyama put up 40 points and 12 rebounds in just 26 minutes to lead the Spurs to a 136-108 win over the Lakers.
It's the first time in NBA history a player scored at least 40 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in 26 or fewer minutes. It's also the fewest minutes needed to score at least 40 points in a game since 1991.
The bulk of Wembanyama's damage came in the first half when he scored 37 points on 12-of-17 shooting, including 25 in the first quarter. He only had to play eight minutes in the second half because the Spurs were up by 40 by the end of the third quarter.
As you might expect, the response to Wembanyama's record-setting performance drew immense praise from fans and analysts.
Wembanyama is averaging career-highs in scoring (24.4 points per game), rebounds (11.1), field-goal percentage (51.2) and three-point percentage (37.0) in 39 appearances.
Given how many players are already ineligible for awards or are on the bubble of missing the 65-game threshold due to injuries, Wembanyama could keep rising up the MVP rankings.
Wemby is also pushing up against the threshold with just 29 games remaining in the regular season. He can only miss up to three more games before being ineligible, but there is a non-zero possibility he could sneak into the MVP race.
The Spurs, who have won five straight games, are 37-16 with one game remaining before the All-Star break. They are just three games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder (41-13) in the loss column in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
San Antonio's 37 wins are its most before the All-Star break since the 2016-17 season (43). That team finished 61-21 before losing to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
The Spurs and Warriors will play in the final game for both teams before the break on Wednesday at Chase Center.
As for the Lakers, this game doesn't really offer any insight into where they stand in the Western Conference hierarchy because their top three players all sat out. James and Reaves were held out since it was the second night of a back-to-back.
Los Angeles will look to build some positive momentum prior to the break on Thursday when it hosts the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers (32-21) are currently fifth in the West standings with one more game to go before getting a week off.
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