SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Victor Wembanyama cooled off a bit, but it didn’t stop him from leading his team to yet another win.
Wembanyama finished with 30 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks, Stephon Castle had 19 points and a team-high seven assists, and the Spurs crushed the Sacramento Kings 124-109 Friday night for their seventh straight win in the opening game of NBA Cup group play for both teams.
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The Spurs’ winning streak is the longest in the league this season.
Wembanyama’s modest – by his standards – stat line came after his 52-point, 24-rebound, eight-block masterpiece in a 112-111 victory over Dallas on Wednesday night at the Frost Bank Center.
“I expect Victor to play the right way,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said when asked if there was a minimum amount of points he expects his star player to produce each game. “He obviously has a tremendous amount of gravity in terms of putting the defense in a tough spot when he’s putting pressure on the rim and running the floor and rolling after screens. And I think that’s going to produce points, but there are teams that have made very concerned efforts at times of taking that away. And what that should do then is open up opportunities for his teammates.”
That happened against the Kings in the form of Dylan Harper and Devin Vassell scoring 19 points each on a night the Spurs hit 15 of 30 shots from 3-point range.
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“We’ve got a team well-built,” Wembanyama said.
Said Harper, “We’re at our best when everyone’s touching the ball, everyone’s getting to the paint, kicking out, just making the right play. And it’s just a byproduct of our chemistry and how much we generally enjoy playing with each other.”
Playing on the first night of a back-to-back that ends in Portland and the first outing of a four-game road trip, the Spurs (7-2) took a 19-point lead into halftime Friday after Wembanyama scored 20 points and eight rebounds. Playing 26 minutes overall, he finished 10 of 18 from the field and 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.
With his fourth 30-point game of the season and seventh double-double, Wembanyama joined Shaquille O’Neal (1993-94) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1975-76) as the only players to post 250 points, 100 rebounds and 35 blocks in the first nine games of a season since blocks became official (1973-74).
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Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. tallied 22 points on an inefficient 9-of-20 from the field to lead the Kings, who fell to 1-8 with their second loss in a row. Domantas Sabonis had 17 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for Sacramento.
The start of the game was delayed for about 20 minutes due to a mechanical issue with the basket the Spurs shot at during warm-ups.
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) scores a basket over Sacramento Kings center Dylan Cardwell (32) during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Villegas) (Jose Luis Villegas/Associated Press)
Here are three takeaways from the second of four games between the teams this season:
1. “Superman” does it again
For the second game in a row, Wembanyama rolled an ankle. For the second game in a row, he quickly shook it off.
The 7-foot-4 center stepped on Walter Clayton Jr.’s foot in the fourth quarter Wednesday against Dallas. This time, it was his left one, but the result was the same: He moved on like nothing happened after Sabonis got hit with a flagrant 1 for a reckless closeout with 31.2 seconds left in the first half.
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After flexing his ankle for about a minute, Wembanyama got up and hit 1 of 3 free throws and remained in the game until the first half buzzer.
“He’s Superman,” Harper said after Wednesday’s game. “He rolls his ankle and pops right up and acts like nothing happened.”
Superman might be a stretch, but Wembanyama’s ability to shake off ankle mishaps that would land the rest of us in the hospital is a testament to how hard he works on his flexibility.
“Not my field of expertise, but I do know he puts more time into his preparation and into his body and recovery and everything in between than anybody I’ve ever seen,” Johnson said.
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Wembanyama said rolling his ankle is something his body has become accustomed to.
“The thing your body won’t forgive you for is if you go through a range you’ve never been before in game, then you’re screwed,” he said. “But I’ve trained my ankles and they’ve been through these ranges before, so it’s nothing new. Now, you have to avoid (turning an ankle) because it’s a violent stimulation for the ligaments. But on one side, flexibility and mobility. And on the other side, strength. It’s a good recipe.”
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) reacts after injuring his ankle during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Villegas) (Jose Luis Villegas/Associated Press)
2. Vassell bounce back no surprise
As Johnson predicted he would Wednesday night, Vassell bounced back from the stinker he suffered through against Dallas.
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The seventh-year forward shot 6 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from distance after scoring just two points against the Mavericks on a night he missed all eight of his shots from the field and all five of his attempts from deep.
“We’ve also done a better job in certain games of making a concerted effort of finding him and Julian (Champagnie) in rhythm and on time and on target,” Johnson said. “And those are guys we got to hunt when they get space.”
3. Bryant needs to bide his time
Johnson said Carter Bryant’s lack of playing doesn’t reflect anything the second-year forward is or isn’t doing.
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Bryant logged just three minutes of garbage time Friday after he stayed on the bench for the entire game against Dallas on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Harrison Barnes had 13 points in 19 minutes against the Kings, helping his cause for a spot in the rotation.
“We got a lot of guys,” Johnson said. “There’s not enough minutes to go around. So I just need (Bryant) to keep doing what he’s doing, just continue to stay with the process. And at times, unfortunately, when you’re on a really good team and you’re a younger player or you’re fighting to get in the rotation, you can do everything right, (but) that doesn’t mean you’re going to get what you want. And, unfortunately, I got to play the bad guy at that and I’m not going to always be right, but I got to make tough decisions in regards to only 240 minutes.”
Johnson is right: Bryant just needs to keep his head up. He found a way into the rotation last season after a slow start. No reason it can’t happen again.
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This article originally published at 3 takeaways as Victor Wembanyama’s double-double leads Spurs to seventh straight win.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
