Wembanyama scores 52, grabs 24 rebounds as Spurs edge Mavericks 112-111

Victor Wembanyama set career highs with 52 points and 24 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs held off the Dallas Mavericks 112-111 on Wednesday after he returned from a rolled ankle to close out the game.

The 22-year-old also blocked eight shots at Frost Bank Center, where the home crowd broke into MVP chants. He did it while ill, he said afterward, and suggested the performance could be a sign of what is ahead.

"I haven't been feeling great lately. I'm sick," Wembanyama said. "I felt like I got my legs back. So, it should be more like this more often."

No player has topped his points, rebounds or blocks in a single game this season. Wednesday's totals tied or set the NBA season high in all three categories.

Wembanyama did much of his damage early. He scored 10 of San Antonio's first 12 points and had 29 by halftime in nearly 17 minutes of playing time. That is the second-highest scoring half of his career, behind the 37 points he put up in the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers in February.

Free throws supplied 15 of those first-half points. Wembanyama went 15-of-15 at the line before the break, matching James Harden's 2019 mark for the most first-half free throws without a miss in the play-by-play era, which began in 1997-98.

He also collected 15 rebounds and five blocks in the half, and the Spurs led 68-51 at the break. He is the first player to post at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in a single half.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson pointed to his center's work near the rim. Johnson noted that Wembanyama made 15 of 20 shots inside the arc and pulled down nine offensive rebounds.

"He was a man tonight, and his teammates rewarded him quite a bit," Johnson said.

The defensive end produced the night's most memorable sequence. During one second-quarter Dallas possession, three straight shots were blocked over 13 seconds. Wembanyama rejected an eight-foot floater by Cooper Flagg, sending it into the crowd across from the Dallas bench. He then knocked a pull-up try by P.J. Washington into fans seated behind the Mavericks' basket. Daniel Gafford's attempt was turned away to end the sequence, with Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox credited with the third block.

When Wembanyama contested their shots in the first half, the Mavericks made just 2 of 13, from an average distance of 5.5 feet.

The game turned tense in the fourth quarter. With 9:11 remaining and San Antonio ahead 94-87, Wembanyama rolled his right ankle and went to the bench. Dallas closed to within 100-99 on a Flagg alley-oop dunk with 6:05 left, and Wembanyama checked back in. He scored 10 points over the rest of the game as the Spurs held on.

Asked about the ankle, Wembanyama said he was "feeling fine." He singled out that stretch as "the moment that stands out," saying both teams raised their physicality and the Spurs had to match Dallas.

Spurs guard Dylan Harper marveled at how quickly he bounced back. "He's Superman," Harper said. "He rolls his ankle and pops right up and acts like nothing happened."

The margin between Wembanyama's minutes and the rest of the game was stark. San Antonio outscored Dallas 87-64 with him on the floor and was outscored by 22 points when he sat.

His final line put him alongside some of the game's greatest big men. Wembanyama is the first player to record at least 50 points and 20 rebounds in a one-point win since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964. He and Elgin Baylor are the only others in NBA history to do it.

When the Chamberlain comparison was put to Harper, he answered without hesitation. "He's basically Wilt," Harper said, adding that opponents try every adjustment and still struggle to keep Wembanyama out of the paint.

His eight blocks are the most in a 50-point game since the league began officially tracking blocks in 1973-74. Over that span, only Bob McAdoo, in 1974, had previously combined at least 50 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in one game.

Wembanyama also became the fifth player in league history with more than one 50-point game at age 22 or younger. His first came in a win over the Washington Wizards in November 2024.

Johnson said the Spurs needed time to find their footing early in the season and that Wembanyama has settled in along with the rest of the roster.

"We're starting to finally play the brand of basketball that we know how and how we should play," Johnson said.