{"id":380541,"date":"2024-03-30T07:02:14","date_gmt":"2024-03-30T08:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=380541"},"modified":"2024-03-30T09:02:50","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T09:02:50","slug":"nba-rookie-matches-shaq-feat-in-31-year-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=380541","title":{"rendered":"NBA rookie matches Shaq feat in 31-year first"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victor Wembanyama<\/a> had a career-high 40 points and added 20 rebounds and seven assists, as the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> overcame Jalen Brunson\u2019s career-best 61 points to beat the New York Knicks<\/a> 130-126 in overtime.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama made a three-pointer to give San Antonio a four-point lead in. He had the first 40-point, 20-rebound game by a rookie since Shaquille O\u2019Neal had 46 points and 21 rebounds on February 16, 1993.<\/p>\n

The No. 1 pick in the draft also had a blocked shot and a steal while collecting his 39th double-double in 65 games.<\/p>\n

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\"Victor<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen so much greatness before,\u201d Wembanyama said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe season has been going on for just some months. I\u2019ve just witnessed so much greatness and I want to be a part of it. I always wanted to, but more and more seeing that I\u2019m already able to compete with those guys. I\u2019m not near, but I\u2019m on the right path. I know it and I\u2019m going to get there and soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brunson finished one point shy of Carmelo Anthony\u2019s franchise record of 62 points on January 24, 2014, missing a three-pointer that would have given the Knicks the lead with 5.4 seconds remaining in overtime (OT).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great, but it\u2019s washed out with the window with the loss,\u201d Brunson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it doesn\u2019t really matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brunson had the fifth-highest point total in the NBA<\/a> this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s special,\u201d Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo said.<\/p>\n

"I think he\u2019s an All-NBA talent. Even if we didn\u2019t come away with the win tonight, I think what he did tonight showed you that he\u2019s one of the best guards in the East. Every single night, whatever it takes to win, he does that. Tonight, it was almost.\u201d<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBAHistory\/status\/1773908094717764064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

After stealing the ball in the final seconds to seal the victory, Wembanyama let out a huge scream in celebration and threw the ball into the stands. Will he pay for the souvenir?<\/p>\n

\u201cNah,\u201d Wembanyama said, laughing afterwards. \u201cSomebody else is going to.\u201d<\/p>\n

As they should, considering Wembanyama\u2019s contributions in leading the Spurs to their first three-game winning streak of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to be one of the greatest players this game has seen,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cJust the way he\u2019s built. What he\u2019s been able to do so far. I have a lot of respect for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devin Vasell added 23 points for the Spurs (18-56), who are three victories from surpassing the worst record in franchise history of 20-62 set in 1997.<\/p>\n

New York took its first lead at 113-112 with 4:39 remaining in regulation on a three-pointer by DiVincenzo. There were five ties in the final minutes of regulation to set up overtime.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/KevinOConnorNBA\/status\/1773905358144324087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/HoopMixOnly\/status\/1773906629425041450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

DiVincenzo finished with 20 points and set the Knicks\u2019 single-season record for three-pointers with 245.<\/p>\n

New York (44-29) fell a half-game behind Cleveland (45-29) for third in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 117-114 on Friday.<\/p>\n

Brunson surpassed his previous career best of 50 points against Phoenix on Dec. 15. The Knicks needed all of his heroics after an uncharacteristic poor defensive effort from Tom Thibodeau\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

After holding their previous 10 opponents to 93.4 points per game, including three under 80 points, the Knicks gave up 74 points in the first half to the Spurs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey stayed strong when New York made a heck of a run,\u201d San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, that\u2019s the best part of the game. It shows that progression in what it takes to win a game in the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Antonio was a point shy of its season high of 75 points in the first half against Phoenix on November 2.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama alarmed the Spurs and their fans when he went limping off the court favouring his right leg with 6:24 remaining in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

He limped back to the locker room a minute later. After a tense five minutes, Wembanyama came sprinting back to the bench with two minutes left in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

\"Victor<\/p>\n

Wembanyama made the first attempt upon his return, a driving, scoop layup under Mitchell Robinson\u2019s arm a minute into the second quarter.<\/p>\n

The Spurs did lose Jeremy Sochan, who exited in the second quarter with a sore left ankle.<\/p>\n

San Antonio led by as many as 13 in building a 38-27 lead in the opening quarter. It marked the first time the Spurs have scored 38 points in the opening quarter since Dec. 28, and they are 3-1 when scoring 38-plus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe give them confidence and they were just rolling from the beginning,\u201d Brunson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we played well the rest of the game. We fought. They went on runs; we went on runs. We just kept on fighting, but at the beginning of the game just didn\u2019t do good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Victor Wembanyama had a career-high 40 points and added 20 rebounds and seven assists, as the San Antonio Spurs overcame Jalen Brunson\u2019s career-best 61 points […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":380543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380541"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=380541"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":380546,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380541\/revisions\/380546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/380543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=380541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=380541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=380541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}