Victor Wembanyama to crowd on return from rodeo trip: ‘I missed this’
SAN ANTONIO – A blocked shot punctuated two late Victor Wembanyama 3-pointers and sent Chet Holmgren plopping down on his rear as “Wemby” chants rumbled through Frost Bank Center.
“I missed this s—,” Wembanyama told 18,392 fans minutes later from the court.
How could you blame the young Spur after he executed such a clutch sequence Thursday? He helped seal San Antonio’s 132-118 win over Oklahoma City, while simultaneously squashing debate regarding the top candidates for Kia NBA Rookie of the Year.
This third clash between the league’s young Thin Towers proved to be the most exciting installment in the series. This time, Wembanyama stole both the stat line and his first victory against Holmgren, who finished with 23 points, 7 rebounds, five assists and one block.
The game featured 12 ties and 12 lead changes as San Antonio snapped Oklahoma City’s six-game win streak. In the process, the Spurs secured their own first win since before Valentine’s Day thanks to Wembanyama’s team-high tying 28 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 blocks and 2 steals.
The Spurs rookie became the first player in league annals to produce 25 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 blocks and 5 3-pointers in a single game.
Here are five takeaways:
1. Chet Holmgren launched off the block
Holmgren snatched a page from Wembanyama’s playbook to start the action. If you remember, the Spurs center scored eight points in a little more than five minutes to open a loss Tuesday at Minnesota (he didn’t score again until the end of the third quarter).
Holmgren topped that.
The OKC center reeled off 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting in the first quarter and finished the first half splashing 6-for-7 to tally 19 points with one block. That scoring output marked the most points Holmgren has scored in the first half all season.
Wembanyama proved more impactful defensively in the first half with three blocks and a steal, and the 20-year old scored a team-high 14 points over the first two quarters to help San Antonio lead 69-64 at intermission.
“They’re obviously really unique talents,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “The frontcourt positions in the NBA have been evolving steadily over time before these guys entered the league. These guys seem like the next iteration of that from a skills standpoint.”
2. Wembanyama and Holmgren are history in the making
Wembanyama carried most of the momentum in the race for Rookie of the Year headed into this one, despite Holmgren leading 2-0 in the head-to-head matchup.
But these rookies entered the contest as the first pair of rookies to post 150 blocks or more in the same season since 2001-02, when Paul Gasol and Andrei Kirilenko accomplished the feat.
Holmgren ranks as the first rookie to post 100 blocks and 100 made 3-pointers in a season. Wembanyama figures to be No. 2. He drilled 5 3-pointers against the Thunder to move his total in that category to 89. The Frenchman has already blocked 180 shots.
“The most underrated thing about both of them is their ability to protect the rim and how they impact the defensive end of the floor,” Daigneault said.
Wembanyama wants to keep going, though, on both ends.
“The great players, they don’t put up 30 points, then 15, then 20,” he said. “They don’t just perform once in a while. I like to follow their example. I don’t even ask myself whether this race is over because I want to win games. There are still 22 to go. So, I have to keep performing.”
3. Have we already seen the best of the rookie clashes?
Victor Wembanyama keeps Chet Holmgren and the Thunder on their toes throughout a tough matchup.
There’s another meeting between these players scheduled for April 10, but conditions might not be conducive to seeing Wembanyama-Holmgren IV this season.
Some teams prioritize postseason seeding and rest ahead of the playoffs once we hit the final month. Others focus attention on the offseason, especially if they’re not in contention.
OKC falls into the former category; San Antonio occupies the latter.
Let’s also keep in mind the Spurs’ track record for exercising caution in protecting the long-term health of their players.
San Antonio’s big three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili didn’t play a combined 53 NBA seasons on a regimen that ground them down with meaningless minutes. And that final scheduled matchup falls on the second night of a road back-to-back set for San Antonio.
Whatever the circumstance, count on Wembanyama wanting to play:
“Taking care of my body has long been one of my most important thoughts, even for long term,” he said at All-Star weekend. “Only the future will tell how the health is going to be. I’m trying to have no regrets about how I treat my body.”
4. Wembanyama cuts the turnovers
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich mentioned during the team’s Rodeo Road Trip that the next evolution in Wembanyama’s game is eliminating the turnovers to make the uber-talented rookie a more “solid” player.
Wembanyama committed a total of nine turnovers in his first two games of this week in losses at Utah and Minnesota. San Antonio allowed a total of 64 points off 43 turnovers in those contests.
Wembanyama coughed up just two of the Spurs’ 12 turnovers against OKC.
That’s progress.
Holmgren averaged just 1.7 turnovers going into Thursday’s contest, and still hasn’t committed more than three in a game since January 3. But it’s worth noting the difference in usage rate:
Wembanyama ranks 10th in the NBA at 30.9%, while Holmgren sits at 21.0%.
5. Young bigs battle tested this week
Chet Holmgren leads the Thunder with 29 points in their win over the Rockets.
Holmgren’s week so far featured back-to-back clashes with the Rockets’ rising big, Alperen Sengun, and Wembanyama.
The Thunder rookie walked away victorious against Sengun before falling to Wembanyama and the Spurs. Still, Holmgren produced solid showings in every game. In the two battles with Sengun, Holmgren racked up a total of 47 points, 21 rebounds and six blocks.
Wembanyama, meanwhile, faced off Tuesday against fellow Frenchman and three-time Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. Statistically, the 20-year old fared well in scoring 17 points to go with 13 rebounds, five assists and four blocks as one of just three Spurs to finish with a positive plus-minus.
But as mentioned previously, turnovers had scratched away some of the luster.
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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