Spurs-Suns: 5 takeaways from Victor Wembanyama's dynamic display – NBA.com

Age and inexperience didn't matter on a night where Victor Wembanyama was the best player on the court.
Michael C. Wright
No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama went off for a career-high 38 points to help the Spurs earn back-to-back wins over the Suns.
PHOENIX – Yes, we’ve witnessed spurts of brilliance from San Antonio Spurs rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama.
But the 19-year-old finally revealed a full picture worth salivating over Thursday by producing his most complete game to date in spearheading a 132-121 drubbing of the Phoenix Suns.
Scoring a career-high 38 points, Wembanyama tied for the third-most by a rookie in Spurs history.
Only Hall of Famer David Robinson scored more points in a game in his first season.
Here are five takeaways from the matchup:
1. Victor Wembanyama takes over
Ducking his head to avoid the doorframe on the way out of the packed postgame interview room, Wembanyama stopped at his locker and gulped a long swig from a clear plastic bottle.
The rookie certainly earned the hydration after dousing Phoenix’s rally attempt from a 27-point deficit.
With 4:21 left, former Spur Keita Bates-Diop drilled a 23-footer, knotting the score at 116.
Wembanyama then racked up 10 of San Antonio’s next 12 points to make the score 128-116 with 1:35 remaining on an 18-foot turnaround jumper.
Twelve seconds later, fans at Footprint Center started heading towards the exits.
“Somebody’s got to do it,” the rookie said of his fourth-quarter takeover.
Wembanyama shot 3-for-4 in the final frame in addition to pulling down three boards and tallying a block. He has now scored a combined 39 points in the fourth quarters of his first five games (fifth in the NBA) on 15-for-19 shooting.
Wembanyama also became the eighth player in NBA history to produce 85-plus points, 35-plus rebounds, and 10-plus blocks in his first five career games.
2. Wembanyama started fast, too
Wembanyama reversed his trend of slow starts in the second game of this Spurs-Suns set, which started Tuesday with a 115-114 win.
The rookie reeled off a game-high 20 points in the first half on 8-of-14 shooting with five rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal. In addition to shooting 2-for-3 on 3s, we saw a highlight dunk or two.
Interestingly, Wembanyama entered this one averaging 5.3 points on 28% shooting in the first halves of the club’s first four contests.
Defensively, Wembanyama became one of three teenagers (Kevin Durant and LeBron James are the others) since blocks were tracked (1973-74) to post 35-plus points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in an outing.
In addition to the fast start, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich ensured Wembanyama would finish strong, too.
“We had he and Zach [Collins] play together in the last three minutes or so,” Popovich said. “We just ran that same play over and over again. But at the same time, we got a few stops at the other end.”

3. Brilliant Devin Booker return spoiled
Devin Booker returned and burned San Antonio as the catalyst for the Suns melting away a 27-point deficit. The 27-year-old returned from a sprained left ankle suffered in the season opener and dropped a team-high 31 points.
“See, they go and lose a game [and this happens],” Popovich quipped about Booker’s availability Thursday after Phoenix’s loss to his team just two days prior. “He told me he wasn’t coming back for a week. What a joker.”
Paired with Durant, Booker and the Suns made a serious run in chipping away the Spurs’ big lead. After bouncing back from the 27-point deficit, Phoenix shot just 1-for-7 to finish the game.
Booker played 35 minutes in churning out his 16th career game with at least 30 points and 10 dimes. Durant contributed 28 points, six rebounds and two blocks in 37 minutes.
The loss marked Durant’s fourth consecutive game with at least 25 points.
4. Varied experiences continue to mold young Spurs
San Antonio controlled most of its season-opening loss to Dallas before late-game execution and big plays from Luka Doncic doomed it down the stretch. Then, the Spurs rebounded by downing the Houston Rockets in overtime in Game 2.
A blowout road loss to the LA Clippers followed.
The two matchups at Phoenix resulted in extremes on both sides. The Spurs mounted a 20-point comeback win Tuesday secured through clutch play late.
Two days later, they seized a 27-point lead with Booker back in the fold and were forced to fight in the fourth quarter to hold off the surging Suns.
“We all go through those experiences, trials and tribulations and you learn from it,” Popovich said. “You’ve got to be in it when the lights are on, screw it up, and finally get it right. We get a lead and took a gut punch [late]. We hung in there.”
Popovich mentioned that “for a young team that needs to learn,” the adversity San Antonio overcame “was the best part of the game.”
When the Spurs took a 39-18 lead late in the first quarter off a Devin Vassell 3-pointer, it marked the team’s first 20-point lead of the season.
5. Popovich calls Walter Davis ‘one of the great ones’
News of the passing of former Phoenix Suns guard-forward Walter Davis reached Popovich on Thursday approximately 90 minutes just before tipoff.
“He was one of the great ones,” the coach said, “especially here in Phoenix for sure. Wonderful player, wonderful man. I’m sorry to hear that.”
GameTime honors the memory of Phoenix Suns all-time leading scorer and 6-time NBA All-Star Walter Davis.
Davis played collegiately at North Carolina for coach Dean Smith, and the school issued a statement that said the former Tar Heel died of natural causes.
The Suns, meanwhile, held a moment of silence in honor of Davis before tipoff.
A six-time NBA All-Star and the No. 5 overall pick of the Suns in 1977, Davis earned NBA Rookie of the Year honors in his first season after averaging 24.2 points per game. Davis played 11 of his 16 seasons in Phoenix, which in 2004 retired his No. 6 jersey.
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Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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