Wembanyama's 40 points, 9 blocks in 25 minutes send Spurs past Suns 122-96 for ninth straight win
A 21-2 run spanning the first and second quarters and Dylan Harper's 14-point third put the game away. Devin Booker scored 32 for Phoenix, which led for a single possession.
Victor Wembanyama had 40 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks in just 25 minutes, and the San Antonio Spurs routed the Phoenix Suns 122-96 on Monday night at Mortgage Matchup Center for their ninth consecutive victory. Wembanyama made 15 of 19 shots, finished one block shy of a triple-double and sat for much of the fourth quarter with the outcome settled. The Spurs, who lost their first two games of the season, improved to 9-2. The Suns fell to 3-6.
Booker's 3, then a 21-2 run
Phoenix hung around for 11 minutes. Devin Booker scored 15 of his team's first 25 points and gave the Suns a 25-24 lead with a 3-pointer with 1:41 left in the first quarter. It was the only time they led all night.
Wembanyama answered on the next trip with a tip dunk, then hit a 26-foot 3-pointer. De'Aaron Fox's driving layup made it 31-25 after one. From Booker's 3 on, Phoenix managed one basket in nearly six minutes. Wembanyama opened the second quarter with a turnaround jumper, two dunks and two free throws, Harrison Barnes added a 3, and with 7:59 left in the half San Antonio led 45-27. The run was 21-2.
The Spurs took a 61-46 lead into halftime. According to The Associated Press, Wembanyama already had 22 points, six rebounds and five blocks.
Harper answers the Suns' only push
The Suns came out of the locker room with their best stretch. After Julian Champagnie opened the half with a 3, Booker and Dillon Brooks hit from deep and Oso Ighodaro tipped in a miss, cutting a 64-46 deficit to 64-54 in less than a minute and a half.
That was when Dylan Harper took over. The guard, who had three points in the first half, strung together midrange jumpers and drives for 14 points in the third quarter. Wembanyama chipped in a reverse layup through contact and an alley-oop dunk off a Harper pass, and his 3-pointer with 31 seconds left in the period made it 93-68.
Coach Mitch Johnson left Wembanyama on the floor to start the fourth, and the center scored four baskets in a little over two minutes, three of them dunks. The last one, with 9:34 to play, produced the largest margin of the night: 104-70. With the game decided, Phoenix outscored San Antonio 26-18 the rest of the way.
Paint, glass and a lone scorer
Without starting center Mark Williams, Phoenix had no way to slow Wembanyama or protect its own rim. San Antonio outscored the Suns 62-48 in the paint, outrebounded them 55-35 and blocked 11 shots. The Spurs also ran, with a 23-10 edge in fast-break points. They shot 51% (46 of 90) and had 30 assists; the Suns shot 39% (35 of 89).
Booker finished with 32 points on 10-of-17 shooting and went 9 of 10 at the line, but he had little help. Phoenix's other four starters combined for 27 points on 10-of-36 shooting: Brooks was 3 of 14, Miles Bridges 3 of 9 and Jalen Green 2 of 8. Khaman Maluach, with 11 points off the bench, was the only other Suns player in double figures.
For San Antonio, Harper finished with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, Fox had 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Champagnie and Barnes scored 11 apiece. Stephon Castle scored only four points on 2-of-10 shooting but added eight rebounds and seven assists.
It was Wembanyama's second outsized stat line in four games. On Nov. 4 he had career highs of 52 points and 24 rebounds against Dallas.
The Spurs visit Chicago on Wednesday. The Suns, 2-2 on a seven-game homestand, host the Clippers on Tuesday on the second night of a back-to-back.
