Wemby nets 40 in 26 mins, was keen to be ‘greedy’

LOS ANGELES — Victor Wembanyama began Tuesday night’s game determined to make sure his San Antonio Spurs didn’t play down to their competition against an undermanned opponent, which has been an occasional problem this season for the Western Conference’s second-place team.

Wembanyama ended the 136-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers by watching the entire fourth quarter from the bench, admittedly wishing he could have kept piling up statistics after scoring 40 points in only 26 minutes.

«I was also pushing to go back, but I mean, they did the right thing by keeping me on the bench,» Wembanyama said. «We got to think long term. But yeah, these kind of games, you got to have the greed. I mean, every game you have to have this greed to want more every time, because you know at all times it doesn’t matter who’s on the court, it’s somebody who’s going to want to stop you from doing what you do out there. So you got to be greedy.»

It marked only the fifth instance in the shot clock era (since 1954-55) that a player scored at least 40 points in 26 or fewer minutes, according to ESPN Research. Wembanyama also grabbed 12 rebounds, joining Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing as the only players in NBA history to record a 40-point double-double in that few minutes.

The Lakers were missing four regular starters after center Deandre Ayton was a late scratch due to knee soreness and stars Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves were ruled out earlier in the day.

Wembanyama ensured that the Spurs seized control from the opening tip, scoring 25 points on 8-of-9 shooting before checking out for the first time with 4:01 remaining in the first quarter. It was the third highest-scoring quarter by a Spur in franchise history, trailing only Hall of Famers George Gervin (33) and David Robinson (28).

«What got me going was just honestly proving myself a point, proving my team a point,» said Wembanyama, who finished 13-of-20 from the floor, 4-of-6 from 3-point range and 10-of-12 from the line while matching his season-high scoring total. «I’m not worried about us, not worried about me against good teams, but history has showed that I need to be worried about us against teams like this. So yeah, I mean, we don’t just talk about what we need to do. We need to actually act.»

The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama scored 37 points by halftime, when the Spurs were up 29.

«He was very aggressive,» Lakers coach J.J. Redick said. «As aggressive to start a game as I’ve seen him. Both in attacking the basket and in shooting without hesitation from 3. Just really put his imprint on the game in that first half.»

Wembanyama scored only once during his stint to start the third quarter. He substituted out of the game a possession after hitting a 3-pointer.

Wembanyama jokingly pretended to start jogging to the scorer’s table at one point during the fourth quarter. He expressed confidence that he could have significantly exceeded his career high of 50 points if he played his normal minutes instead of sitting out the final quarter.

«But I also know we got to be fresh for tomorrow,» said Wembanyama, whose team flew to San Francisco after the game for the second end of a back-to-back against the Golden State Warriors. «We got to make another statement tomorrow. So it’s a team game at the end of the day. The real stat that matters is the W or the L.»