Victor Wembanyama Drops 43 as Spurs Beat Timberwolves

Victor Wembanyama went full takeover mode Saturday night. He hoisted a career-high 34 shots and turned them into a season-high 43 points as the Spurs beat the Timberwolves 121-111 in San Antonio for their fourth straight win.

And he did not just score. Wembanyama finished 17 of 34 from the field with seven rebounds, four assists and six blocks in 34 minutes. ESPN's Michael C. Wright noted he is the first Spur since David Robinson in 1996 to put up at least 40 points and five blocks in a game, and the first player in the league to do it since Joel Embiid in 2022.

He Lived at the Rim

The big story was where the buckets came from. Wembanyama took eight 3-pointers and made three, including a corner three with 2:40 left that pushed the lead to 118-107. But 12 of his other 14 baskets came from two feet or closer, with four alley-oops and four dunks. That is the version of Wemby that nobody can guard.

He basically told us this was coming. After the season-opening loss to OKC, he said he needed to get back to playing the basketball he likes. "It's like pattern recognition," he said Saturday. "Whenever we score, we get good results, positive feedback for the brain."

The "WemVP" chants started with 5:23 left in the third quarter. It was also the first time the Spurs have won a game where he took 30 or more shots. They had lost the previous two.

The Kids Are Rolling Too

Dylan Harper set a career high with 25 points on 9 of 17 shooting, and De'Aaron Fox was nearly perfect, going 8 of 10 for 22 points with eight rebounds and seven assists. Those three combined for 90 points, and San Antonio won the boards 49-38.

"When he puts his imprint on the game, he's unstoppable," Harper said.

Minnesota was short-handed without Anthony Edwards (knee), and LaMelo Ball fouled out after just 20 minutes with 10 points. Ayo Dosunmu led the Wolves with 27.

Next Up: Jazz on Monday

The Spurs are 4-2 and host Utah on Monday at 5:30 PM PT. Wembanyama has 36 and 43 in his last two games, and he is clearly hunting his shot now.

My Smacktok lean: go higher on Wemby's points against the Jazz. He just took a career-high 34 shots and most of his makes came right at the rim, so the volume is not going anywhere.