The Washington Wizards had no answer for Victor Wembanyama on Wednesday night.
The San Antonio Spurs star put up a career-high 50 points in their 139-130 win over the Wizards at the Frost Bank Center. It was by far the best outing of Wembanyama’s young career, shattering his previous career-high of 40. He drained eight 3-pointers in the win, too, and shot 18 of 29 from the field. He also is the first player in Spurs history to make at least six 3-pointers in three consecutive games,
The outing 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 in 2019. He’s 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 they went into the locker room tied at 67. Wembanyama and the Spurs, though, completely blew the game open in the third quarter. They nearly doubled the Wizards in points and ended the period on a massive 23-7 tear. Washington made just two field goals in the final six minutes of the quarter, too. Wembanyama had 17 points in the period alone, including three 3-pointers.
Wembanyama didn’t waste any time getting to the 50-point mark in the fourth quarter, either. 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 put the Spurs up by 17 points at the time.
He checked out of the game soon after when it looked like the Spurs were going to cruise to the win. But after the Wizards cut it to 10 points with just under five minutes to go, Wembanyama reentered to close out the nine-point win.
Jordan Poole led the Wizards with 42 points in the loss. He 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, now sit at 2-8 on the season.
Devin Vassell added 17 points off the bench to go with Wembanyama’s 50-piece for the 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 being led by interim coach Mitch Johnson. The team announced Wednesday that Popovich suffered a mild stroke earlier this month, and he’s “expected to make a full recovery.” There is still no timeline for his return.
San Antonio will next take the court on Friday, when it hosts the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Cup.