LOS ANGELES (AFP) – French phenomenon Victor Wembanyama poured in 38 points and came up big in the fourth quarter as the San Antonio Spurs held off a late Phoenix rally to beat the Suns, 132-121, on Thursday, Nov. 2.
76ers 114, Raptors 99
Pelicans 125, Pistons 116
Magic 115, Jazz 113
Spurs 132, Suns 121
Wembanyama, the number one draft pick playing in his fifth NBA game, notched 20 points in the first half as the Spurs pushed their lead to as many as 27 on the way to a 75-55 lead at the break.
The towering 19-year-old then showed plenty of poise after the Suns roared back to tie the game at 116-116 on Keita Bates-Diop’s three-pointer with 4:21 remaining.
The Spurs responded with 12 straight points, 10 of them from Wembanyama who produced three free-throws, a dunk, a three-pointer and a turnaround jump shot to put San Antonio back in charge.
The burst was even more impressive than his highlight-reel dunk in the second quarter and back-to-back three-pointers to end the first half.
In all Wembanyama connected on 15 of 26 shots from the field and pulled down 10 rebounds with two blocked shots to help the Spurs notch their second win in three days over the Suns.
On Tuesday San Antonio erased a 20-point third-quarter deficit to stun Phoenix 115-114.
On Thursday the Spurs never trailed, although it looked like the Suns might turn the tables as Devin Booker scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half and Kevin Durant scored 15 of his 28 after the break in a furious rally bid.
Booker, back from an ankle injury, added 13 rebounds and nine assists, but the Suns, hindered by 14 turnovers, never gained the lead.
Elsewhere, Joel Embiid scored 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Philadelphia to a 114-99 victory over the Toronto Raptors in the 76ers’ first game since trading James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Kelly Oubre Jr. and Tobias Harris added 23 points apiece and Tyrese Maxey had 18 for the 76ers, who notched a third straight victory and improved to 3-1 in a young season that had so far been overshadowed by Harden’s trade demand.
Maxey insisted that Harden’s professionalism meant there were no distractions for a team adjusting to new coach Nick Nurse.
“Everybody was really focused on trying to get better,” Maxey said of pre-season preparations. “This is coach Nurse’s first year, so we were trying to learn schemes, learn how he thinks… there wasn’t much of a distraction at all.”
Nurse said before the game that from a competitive standpoint Harden’s trade to the Clippers “would have been better a month ago.”
Of the new arrivals in the deal — Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, KJ Martin and Marcus Morris — only Covington and Martin entered the game, in the final minutes.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Embiid made just eight of 22 shots from the floor but connected on 12 of 13 from the free-throw line and handed out seven assists.
Oubre started in place of PJ Tucker — who was part of the Harden trade — and connected on five of six three-point attempts.
In New Orlans, CJ McCollum scored 33 points to lead the Pelicans to a 125-116 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
McCollum ably filled the void as Pelicans star forward Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram sat out, Williamson taking off the second night of a back-to-back and Ingram nursing right knee tendinitis.
Detroit, trailing by as many as 25 points late in the first half, cut the deficit to seven in the waning minutes but endured their third straight defeat.
