Victor Wembanyama scores 19 points in LNB Finals as Metropolitans 92 go down 2-0

The NBA Draft is just 10 days away, and San Antonio Spurs fans are likely counting down the days until their team presumably selects top prospect Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick. Right now, though, Metropolitans 92 is looking to the 7-foot-5 French star to help them win a championship.

That pursuit got off to a slow start, but Wembanyama flipped a switch Monday. He recorded 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and three rebounds in Game 2 of France’s LNB Pro A Finals. It wasn't enough to prevent Metropolitans 92 from losing 95-88 to Monaco and falling to a 2-0 series deficit.

Mets 92 were led by Barry Brown, who scored 21 points, and TaShawn Thomas had 18. For Monaco, former Toronto Raptors guard Jordan Loyd dropped 23.

In Game 1 on Saturday, Wembanyama scored just eight points on 3-of-8 shooting as the team was blown out 87-64. On Monday, he had eight points by halftime. That turnaround was crucial in Mets 92's more competitive showing.

The dramatically improved start from Wembanyama was impossible to ignore, as he notched six points, three rebounds and a steal in the first quarter.

His production stalled a bit as the half went on, a testament to Monaco's more experienced roster. Wembanyama had four turnovers and three fouls as a result of the pressure.

French former basketball player Ronny Turiaf, who won an NBA title with the Miami Heat in 2012, was on the broadcast call for Game 2. He noted that a championship win for Mets 92 would be similar to the Heat winning the title this season over the Denver Nuggets.

Mets 92's lack of depth showed in some crucial plays against one of Europe's best teams, and Wembanyama was contained for much of the second quarter. Still, he made scoring in the paint look easy with this dunk:

'Avec la force'

For his first points of the third quarter, Wembanyama threw down an alley-oop dunk over two Monaco players that made an English-speaking announcer yell in French.

"Avec la force!" G League broadcaster Kevin Danna shouted on the NBA's stream of the game as he and Turiaf relished the highlight play. His exclamation translates to "with the force," which is an accurate description of how Wembanyama slammed the ball.

Mets 92 seemed to come alive late, closing their deficit to 12 points at 90-78 with 4:51 remaining. Wembanyama was fouled with 3:35 left, making both of his free throws to help close the gap.

He was perfect from the line again when fouled in the final 40 seconds of the game. But the made free throws didn't matter, as his team was consistently outscored.

With Monaco one win away from its first title, the series will head to Roland-Garros, the site of the French Open, for Game 3 on Thursday.