– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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WASHINGTON — The latest stop in the Victor Wembanyama road show was the nation’s capital, and the French sensation didn’t waste any time in wowing the masses who came from all corners to marvel at his presence. Unfortunately for his opponents, they know all too well how much of a mark that Wembanyama’s show can leave from just a few months ago, and it happened again on Monday night.
Wembanyama had 31 points and 15 rebounds and while being the catalyst in a 22-0 first-quarter run as the Spurs defeated the Wizards 131-121 inside Capital One Arena. Newly-acquired De’Aaron Fox had 30 points, with 15 of those coming at the free-throw line, as San Antonio stopped a two-game losing skid.
Back in November, Wembanyama scored a career-high 50 points against the Wizards, and looked to be well on his way to that total when he made three three-pointers on back-to-back-to-back possessions, all of which came from 30 feet and further. For good measure, Wemby drained a fadeaway jumper from the left baseline on the following possession for 11 straight points, and when the first-quarter scoring barrage from the Spurs was over, San Antonio had opened up a 28-10 lead.
Not only did the young Wizards rally to get back into the game before halftime, they even opened up a five-point lead with just under four minutes remaining in the second quarter after a Richaun Holmes dunk. Chris Paul hit a tie-breaking three right before the buzzer as the Spurs went into halftime with a 63-60 lead.
AFter an even third quarter where both teams scored above 30 points and the Spurs left it with a four-point lead, San Antonio turned up the screws in the fourth to put the game away. Wembanyama scored 10 of his points in the final frame, including making his fifth three of the evening. More importantly, the Spurs held Washington to just 43 percent shooting (9-for-21) as the Wizards missed all nine of their three-point attempts. (Washington had made 14 three-pointers prior.)
All nine players who saw action for the Wizards scored in double figures, led by Tristan Vukucevic’s 18 points off the bench. Holmes had 17 points while Jordan Poole had 16 points and six rebounds.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Monday evening’s game, with photos taken by DC-area photographer Clifford Ray Williams. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 17 pictures in total.
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