Wemby went off for a career night against the Wiz.
The Washington Wizards lost the battle between Frenchmen 139-130 in Wednesday’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center.
It’s hard to win when you give up a career-high 50 points to Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs superstar started the game red-hot with two three-pointers in the opening minute. He stayed incendiary the rest of the way, scoring 24 points by halftime.
Despite Wemby’s hot start, the Wizards stayed competitive throughout the first two quarters. Washington overcame an early 16-point deficit to tie the game at 67 at the break. Jordan Poole led the way with 19 points at halftime, while Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, and Bub Carrington scored eight apiece.
But Wembanyama kept his big night rolling in the third, scoring 19 points as San Antonio outscored the Wizards 41-24 in the quarter.
Wemby scored his 50th point in the fourth quarter to give the Spurs a 113-96 lead with 9:22 left and was subbed out shortly after. The Wizards, perhaps taking Wemby’s early check-out personally, roared all the way with under two minutes to play. Poole scored 15 in the final frame to get the Wiz to as close as six. But the Spurs held on for the nine-point victory.
Poole led the Wizards in scoring with 42 points and six assists on a stellar 15/22 shooting clip. Corey Kispert broke out of his shooting slump by hitting five threes and tallying 19 points off the bench. Bilal Coulibaly had a relatively quiet night with six points on 2/5 shooting.
The Wizards’ rookies combined for 37 points, with each member of the trio making a few encouraging plays here and there. Sarr in particular had a few moments against Wembanyama, including a dunk after getting past his countryman.
OK ROOK pic.twitter.com/PrlZHtirvN
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) November 14, 2024
The loss extends the Wizards’ losing streak to six. Washington will have a decent chance to end the slide on Friday when the team takes on a Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks squad.