Victor Wembanyama throws down solo alley-oop in wild birthday outing as Spurs lose to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
Despite Wemby's incredible night, the Bucks edged the Spurs 125-121 behind Gianni's 44 points
Although the San Antonio Spurs didn’t get the win, Victor Wembanyama made the most of his 20th birthday on Thursday.
The Spurs rookie scored 27 points in San Antonio's 125-121 loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, and he had multiple ridiculous highlights to go with it.
“He’s unbelievable, an unbelievable talent,” Antetokounmpo said of Wembanyama after the game. “[He] can score at will, anytime he wants … It was great to play against him.”
Early in the second quarter at the Frost Bank Center, Antetokounmpo threw down a huge dunk to give the Bucks a six-point lead. Wembanyama immediately responded. On the next play, he caught a screen to get away from Antetokounmpo and then tossed himself an alley-oop off the backboard for a wild slam.
In the third quarter, Wembanyama came up with a steal and broke down the court. As he approached the hoop, Wembanyama threw the ball behind his back to get past Damian Lillard and somehow managed to throw down a dunk while being fouled by Brook Lopez.
Wembanyama played just 26 minutes, as he’s still on a minutes restriction due to an ankle injury. That caused him to miss a significant chunk of the fourth quarter, though when he checked back into the game at about the four-minute mark, San Antonio was still in the lead.
Yet after Devin Vassell rebounded his own miss with a dunk, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks took off. They mounted an 8-2 run, backed by a pair of Antetokounmpo buckets from behind the arc, to take the lead and control of the game.
Wembanyama blocked Lillard and then hit a 3-pointer to tie it back up briefly. Antetokounmpo then slammed perhaps the biggest dunk of the night before completing the three-point play.
Though Wembanyama got one last block on Antetokounmpo for good measure, Tre Jones missed a game-tying 3-pointer from the corner, and the Bucks held on to grab the four-point win.
A classic mic drop from HC Gregg Popovich. Turn up the volume and enjoy a short and sweet postgame interview from Pop.
“There’s nothing I didn’t love about any of it.” pic.twitter.com/OlMVwkOAvu— Mary Rominger (@KSATMaryRom) January 5, 2024
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 44 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. Lillard added 25 points and 10 assists for Milwaukee, and he combined with Antetokounmpo to score 24 of the Bucks' last 25 points to seal the win, bringing the Bucks to 25-10 on the season.
Wembanyama finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in the loss and shot 10-of-18 from the field. Vassell led the Spurs with 34 points, shooting 6-of-9 from behind the arc, and Jones finished with 18 points. The Spurs are 5-29 this season, the worst record in the Western Conference, and they've lost nine of their past 10. Although they've had several chances, including three times in the past week, the Spurs haven't won a game decided by single digits since October.
They might not be winning, but Wembanyama has certainly settled into the NBA just fine. After all, he went toe-to-toe with Antetokounmpo and one of the best teams in the league in their first meeting.
