‘Wemby’ carries Spurs past Nuggets

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Victor Wembanyama scored 34 points as the San Antonio Spurs stunned the Denver Nuggets 121-120 on Friday to upend the race for the No. 1 seeding in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference.

French rookie Wembanyama, who has produced a dazzling debut season in the NBA despite playing on a struggling Spurs team, was superb once again as San Antonio pulled off a remarkable victory over the reigning NBA champions.

The 20-year-old from Paris led an injury-hit Spurs line-up to finish with 34 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two blocks, underscoring his reputation as the most exciting talent to land in NBA since LeBron James.

The result delighted San Antonio’s veteran coach Gregg Popovich, who saw his team recover from a 23-point deficit early in the third quarter to snatch victory.

“Really proud of them, they played a great second half but they’ve done that all year — they don’t give in,” Popovich said of his team.

“Obviously with a lot of guys not there, we had a lot of people step up. Victor’s Victor — he did a lot of good things. But it couldn’t have happened without everybody else.”

“Everybody contributed, they deserved it. They should all go get a beer, or a Coke, or whatever they do.”

Denver meanwhile was left wondering where it all went wrong after 35 points from Jamal Murray and 22 points from Nikola Jokic.