The Phoenix Suns came away impressed.
“He’s an unbelievable talent,” Devin Booker said of Victor Wembanyama (via the Associated Press). “Everyone knows that. We’re just trying to figure what he is because we’ve never seen him before. We got him early in the season. Hopefully, next time we play him we can make some adjustments to make it tougher. But he has an advantage being 7-4 and being able to shoot over everybody.”
“I don’t see anyone else like him in this game,” Kevin Durant said. “We’re both skinny and I know he watched me growing up, but he’s his own player.”
The Suns got to see firsthand just how special Wembanyama can be — the rookie had his best NBA game Thursday night, scoring 38 points with 10 rebounds, and taking over late after the Suns had tied the game, leading the Spurs to the win, 132-121.
EVERY HIGHLIGHT from Victor Wembanyama's dominant night in the Spurs' W 🎬
— NBA (@NBA) November 3, 2023
38 PTS (career-high)
10 REB
2 BLK pic.twitter.com/E7FXwDlX9A
Game to game, you can see Wembanyama getting more comfortable with the NBA game. After the Clippers played the Spurs last Sunday, Kawhi Leonard talked about that growth.
“He’s going to be good. It’s still early in the season obviously, but once he figures out where he’s going to be getting his shots, and reading defenses, I think he’s going to be good,” Leonard said. “I felt like he got more aggressive, like a more aggressive mentality as he started this season off. I think you know, he’ll just keep getting better.”
Wembanyama looked plenty aggressive against the Suns, and a big who can run the floor like this is going to get a lot of easy buckets.
OH MY WEMBANYAMA‼️ pic.twitter.com/xeONY0XzHM
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 3, 2023
Zach Collins had 19 and Devin Vassell had 17 for the Spurs. Booker — in his first game back from a toe injury — scored 31 and Durant added 28 for the Suns.