‘Wemby’ makes gamewinner

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Victor Wembanyama’s game-winner lifted the San Antonio Spurs to a 101-100 triumph over Phoenix and into the National Basaketball Association (NBA) playoffs Thursday as the Los Angeles Lakers kept up their postseason push with an eighth straight victory.

Luka Doncic scored 60 points and 41-year-old LeBron James hit another NBA milestone in style with a 19-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in the Lakers’ 134-126 victory over the Heat in Miami.

The Lakers’ surge has seen them climb from sixth to third in the Western Conference, where second-placed San Antonio have now joined reigning champions Oklahoma City with their first playoff berth since 2019.

Knowing they could punch their playoff ticket with a win, the Spurs trailed by 10 with 4:50 left to play.

They were five back with 1:01 remaining when Wembanyama drained a pair of free throws and De’Aaron Fox drove for a layup to cut the deficit to one with 26.6 seconds left.

The Spurs bottled up Devin Booker to force the Suns to call a timeout and on the ensuing inbounds Wembanyama fouled rookie Rasheer Fleming — who missed both free throws.

When Wembanyama’s basket over Oso Ighodaro swished through the net the crowd at Frost Bank Center went wild.

“We haven’t had a game like this in a while,” said Wembanyama, who led all scorers with 34 points and added 12 rebounds. “Feels good to know we’ve still got it.”