HERE COMES WEMBY

LAS VEGAS (AFP) — San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama said he’s “feeling great” as he prepares to end a 12-game injury absence in the Spurs’ blockbuster National Basketball Association (NBA) Cup semifinal against the mighty Oklahoma City Thunder.

The French phenom has been sidelined with a left calf strain since November 14, but the towering 21-year-old returns just in time to take on a Thunder team who at 24-1 have tied the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors for the best 25-game start to an NBA season.

“Right now, I’m feeling great,” Wembanyama told reporters in Las Vegas, where Saturday’s Cup semi-finals will be followed by the in-season tournament’s title game on Tuesday. “I’m ready to go.”

The Spurs are 9-3 since Wembanyama was sidelined, their ability to thrive without him signaling their progress after six seasons without a playoff appearance.

They are fifth in the West, just one game behind the second-placed Denver Nuggets.

But the reigning NBA champion Thunder have been all but unstoppable.

Since their lone defeat, in Portland on 5 November, they have reeled off 16 straight victories, with NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaging 32.6 points per game this season.

The Thunder arrive in Vegas on a high note, having handed the Phoenix Suns the most lopsided defeat in franchise history with a 138-89 rout in their Cup quarter-final.

The Thunder fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in last season’s Cup final, and even after their run to the NBA crown and their breathtaking start this season Gilgeous-Alexander admitted it would be sweet to go all the way in the in-season tournament.

“It would be phenomenal,” he said.

“Whenever you get a chance to play for something and win, it’s always the goal to win. It’s always the same feeling.”