Victor Wembanyama shines at Madison Square Garden, despite San Antonio Spurs defeat

As the saying goes, one person's misfortune makes another person's happiness. Wednesday January 25, Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs had the honor of launching the Christmas Day of the NBA, the North American Basketball League, against the New York Knicks. A match organized in the “Big Apple”, at Madison Square Garden, at lunchtime, at a decent time for fans on the other side of the Atlantic.

And if the local public was disgusted by the Frenchie of the Texan franchise, his compatriots were able to enjoy his performance: he finished top scorer of the match with 42 points, to which were added 18 rebounds and 4 blocks.

the native of Chesnay (Hauts-de-Seine), 20 years old, however, will not have succeeded in offering his family a 16^e victory in 30 games since the start of the regular season. The Spurs were defeated by their hosts, 117-114. The Knicks, third in the Eastern Conference and second best attack in the league, therefore remain on a series of nine wins in eleven games.

A revenge for 2023

In front of the press, Monday after the Spurs' defeat against Philadelphia (111-106), “Wemby” projected himself on this Wednesday. He hoped for a New York under “snow”, “that it will be like in the movies there”. If he was not really granted weather-wise, he still experienced a scenario worthy of a Hollywood Christmas story. The story of redemption. That of a team which had not been scheduled for a December 25 since 2016 and which fought until the end before letting the game slip away, at the end of the 4^e quart-temps.

That of a much-anticipated athlete, too, who had missed his first steps on the floor of the legendary Madison Square Garden, a little over a year ago. On November 8, 2023, the number 1 in the Draft – a sort of scholarship for young players – had completely missed his match. He only scored 2 points in the first half, 14 in total. San Antonio ended up losing largely 126-105.

Since then, Victor Wembanyama has taken on another stature. “Rookie of the Year” last season, he was named, for the first time in his career, “player of the week” of the Western Conference on December 23, after two very successful matches against Atlanta and Portland. Over these two games, he scored, on average, 36 points, grabbed 6.5 rebounds and made 7 blocks. Statistics to which he honored this Wednesday.

The Frenchman and the Spurs will return to the NBA courts on Friday, December 27, at the Barclays Center in New York, where they will face the Brooklyn Nets.