Wembanyama threw a lifeline this Friday to the San Antonio Spurs. The Frenchman had 30 points, six assists, six rebounds and seven blocks in 24 minutes, in the Texans' victory against the Portland Trail Blazers (105-118). No player in NBA history had achieved the numbers of the 19-year-old prodigy, playing less than 30 minutes on the court.
'Wemby' has nipped in the bud a negative streak for Popovich's team, which had accumulated five games in a row without winning in the league, while at the same time calling into question the naming of Chet Holmgren, a Thunder player, as rookie of the year. The Texan '1' was also effective in field goals (nine of 14), as well as from the personal line with a 10 of 10. In the triple, he scored two of his four attempts.
Devin Vassell was the second leading scorer in San Antonio's victory in Portland (17 points, five assists and seven rebounds) and Malaki Branham did not miss a beat in the game either with his 13 points. All in all, the Spurs remain the red lantern in the Western Conference with a record of 5-25. They are only consoled by the crisis that the Detroit Pistons are going through in the East.
Monty Williams' team was on the verge of achieving a feat against the Boston Celtics, but nothing could be further from the reality in which the Pistons are mired. Cade Cunningham and Bojan Bogdanović led the visitors, but the Eastern Conference leader was able to come back early this morning in a duel in which he was down 21 points in the second quarter.
The American point guard buried the Angelenos with a total of 31 points, nine assists and six rebounds, while the Croatian center scored 17 figures, six assists and 12 rebounds. However, another center would be in charge of keeping the Boston franchise undefeated on his court.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 29 points between the second half and overtime to finish the match with 35 points and eight rebounds. These figures, added to those of Jayson Tatum (31 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds) and Derrick White with 23, keep the Celtics as the best-positioned candidate to win the ring this season.
Joe Mazzulla's team has the best record so far this season (24-6). Quite the opposite of the Detroit Pistons who already have 28 consecutive losses in the championship, equaling the Philadelphia 76ers of 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 who held this negative record, including the end of one campaign and the beginning of the next. In addition to having a record of 2-29, the last in the East has a winning percentage of .064.
