Wemby in rare air with 6 3s, 7 blocks; Spurs fall

SAN ANTONIO — Spurs star Victor Wembanyama couldn’t believe it.

“Really? I’ve never made six 3s in a game?” he asked.

Wembanyama shook off his 3-point shooting slump in a major way Saturday, connecting on a career-high six 3-pointers, in addition to producing his second game this season with seven blocks in San Antonio’s 111-110 loss to the Utah Jazz.

Wembanyama was 6-of-9 from deep and 8-of-15 from the field.

“He made shots that he’s missed earlier [this season],” Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson said. “So, there’s not a reaction either way. He’s a phenomenal shooter. We want him shooting all those shots.”

Wembanyama, 21, obliged by dropping a game-high 24 points to go with 16 rebounds. The performance marked Wembanyama’s third career game with at least five 3-pointers and five blocks, tying Kristaps Porzingis for the second most in NBA history, behind Raef LaFrentz, who had four.

Wembanyama also became the second player in league history with six 3s and seven blocks in a game, joining Brook Lopez, who did it in 2017. Wembanyama now has two of the three instances in NBA history of a player scoring at least 20 points with 15 rebounds, 5 blocks and 5 3-pointers, with Paul Millsap in 2016 providing the other.

“I don’t think there’s really a corner to be turned,” Wembanyama said. “That’s not how progression goes. I’m not going to be shooting 66% in my career. But I’m also not going to be shooting 25%. This is how progression goes. You don’t want to react one way or the other.”

In just his second season, Wembanyama has produced 13 career games with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks, which already registers as third most in Spurs franchise history behind David Robinson (117) and Tim Duncan (74). It’s also the most in a player’s first two seasons since 1999, when Duncan produced 14 such performances.

Wembanyama entered Saturday having shot just 13-of-41 from 3-point range over his previous five games. But after a 2-for-9 performance from beyond the arc during a loss Tuesday to the Clippers, Wembanyama insisted his mindset wouldn’t change.

“It’s just to keep playing my game, and my game consists of shooting 3s, too,” he said.

Wembanyama showcased as much early, firing a 25-footer off a Harrison Barnes assist for San Antonio’s first points. The Frenchman hit 2-of-3 from 3-point range in the first quarter, including a 26-foot step-back jumper with 32.7 seconds left, on the way to draining four 3s in the first half, matching his career high for a half.

The Spurs attempted a franchise-record 28 3-pointers in the first half.

On defense, Wembanyama logged multiple blocks in a quarter for the 75th and 76th time, recording two in the first quarter and four more in the fourth. His 76 multiple-block quarters rank No. 1 in the NBA since last season. Since 1997-98, Robinson and Duncan are the only Spurs with more multiple-block quarters (208 and 595, respectively) than Wembanyama.

Wembanyama also became the second Spurs player to average at least 3.5 blocks through the first 10 games of a season, joining Robinson, who accomplished the feat five times in his Hall of Fame career.

Wembanyama posted his first block just 39 seconds in, swatting away a Walker Kessler 17-footer. He logged another block with 7:20 remaining in the opening quarter, this time on Collin Sexton as he attempted a midrange jumper.

“My rhythm’s there for sure,” Wembanyama said. “But there’s so much more to be gained. It’s just a matter of how well we can combine everything together. Once we combine it all, it’s great. But it’s about how often we can do it, and this is how we can keep piling up wins.”

Saturday’s game marked fourth-year forward Devin Vassell’s season debut. Vassell finished with 21 points off the bench on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, with three rebounds and four assists. Vassell had sat out the team’s first nine games recovering from right foot surgery in June.

The team’s second-leading scorer last season, Vassell hadn’t played a regular-season game since March 29.

“It felt great to be back out there, but I’ve just got to get acquainted back playing with everybody,” Vassell said. “These are people I didn’t play with in training camp. I didn’t practice or nothing. We’re still so many games in. But truthfully, I’m just glad I’m back playing, and we’re starting to turn in the right direction. I can tell you that. I just wish we would’ve gotten this one.”