Utah Jazz guard Patty Mills has given his old coach Gregg Popovich a Halloween night fright but it was Victor Wembanyama who had the last laugh with a rare 5×5 in San Antonio’s 106-88 NBA win.
Mills entered Thursday night’s (Friday AEDT) game with three minutes remaining in the first quarter and with scores level at 17-17.
The Boomers veteran, who spent 10 seasons under Popovich at the Spurs between 2011-2021, had been struggling in his first season at Utah, averaging less than two points per game.
But Mills was unstoppable early against his former side, hitting three triples in a magical 53-second burst to give the Jazz a 30-19 lead at quarter time.
Popovich, who described Mills as a “special guy” before the match, sat expressionless after the 36-year-old had nailed his third straight triple.
But Mills couldn’t add to his points tally after that, with Wembanyama (25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five blocks and five steals) posting a rare 5×5 to lead San Antonio to an easy victory.
It was the second time 20-year-old Wembanyama had accomplished the feat, joining Hakeem Olajuwon (six times) and Andrei Kirilenko (three times) as the only NBA players to do it more than once.
Chris Paul (19 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and two steals) also starred for the Spurs (2-3), while Keldon Johnson (13 points), Jeremy Sochan (11 points) and Sandro Mamukelashvili (10) all hit double figures.
For Utah (0-5), Collin Sexton top-scored with 16 points, while Keyonte George scored 15 and John Collins added 14 points and 11 boards.
Boomers big man Jock Landale was unused as his Houston Rockets defeated the fast-finishing Dallas Mavericks 108-102.
Dallas trailed by 23 points in the last quarter before closing to within three.
Jalen Green (23 points) nailed a late three-pointer to help settle Houston’s nerves, while Dillon Brooks and Alperen Sengun scored 17 points apiece.
Luka Doncic (29 points) and Kyrie Irving (28 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) led the way for the Mavs.
Elsewhere, Ja Morant registered 26 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds to lift the Memphis Grizzlies to a 122-99 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo starred for Milwaukee (1-4) with 37 points and 11 rebounds.
LA Clippers star James Harden became the 20th player to reach 26,000 points during his team’s 125-119 loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Harden finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, but the Clippers blew a 21-point lead to a Phoenix outfit well led by Devin Booker (40 points, eight assists, three steals).
