Victor Wembanyama scored a career-high 38 points in the fifth game of his rookie season as the Spurs improved to 3-2 at the expense of the Suns. It was the second time this week that San Antonio has gotten the better of Phoenix. 10 of Wembanyama's points came in the final 4:15 of the game, outscoring the entire Suns roster over that same period. Furthermore, the game marked Wembanyama's second NBA double-double as he also notched 10 rebounds in the 132-121 win. Additionally, the French rookie knew exactly what to say when asked if he felt he was a clutch player. "It's a requirement if we're being ambitious," he told reporters.
However, Wemby also showed some astute insight as he mulled the win. "Every game is different. We got our third win. Every game we try to find the spots that we need to hurt them. Today, it might have been in this way. Tomorrow, it will be someone else. That is how great teams work. If we want to be great, we need to play with everyone," he explained. His performance comes in as the third-best performance by a rookie in history. David Robinson holds the top two spots, with 40 and 39-point performances in his 1990 rookie season.
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Spurs Roll Onward
The Spurs were also 3-2 after five games to open last season. However, their journey to the #1 pick was set in motion after a 1-14 November. But things feel different this time around - they come off back-to-back to wins against a conference contender and have one of the most exciting rookies in league history. For many Spurs fans, the benchmark will be 56 wins. That was what the team achieved in the rookie seasons of their last two #1 picks - David Robinson and Tim Duncan.
Next up on the schedule is a trip to Toronto this weekend. After all, the Spurs welcome Indiana and the Knicks to San Antonio. However, Devin Booker is already forward to the Spurs-Suns rematch in March. "He's an unbelievable talent. Just trying to figure out what he is because we have never seen him before. We got him early in the season, and hopefully next time that we play him we can make some adjustments to make it tougher on him. But he has an advantage being 7-4 and being able to shoot over everybody. Just finding different ways to make it tough on him," Booker said.
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