Welcome to the Victor Wembanyama takeover of the NBA.
San Antonio found itself on national television Wednesday night for the “welcome the next generation” opening game matchup — Cooper Flagg and the Mavs against Wembanyama and the Spurs. The No. 1 pick in last June’s draft, Flagg has a very respectable 10 points and 10 rebound NBA debut with some impressive moments.
That’s not what anyone is talking about out of this game. Wembanyama looked like a player ready to make the leap into another stratosphere with a 40-point, 15-rebound game that doesn’t begin to describe how he dominated it.
> WHAT A STATEMENT from Wemby to open Year 3!40 PTS15-21 FGM15 REB3 BLKW
>
> The first player with 40+ PTS, 15+ REB and 0 TO while shooting 70+ FG% since TOs have been tracked (1977-78) 🤯 [pic.twitter.com/1bbJo57bDJ](https://t.co/1bbJo57bDJ)
>
> — NBA (@NBA) [October 23, 2025](https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1981221349239533609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
All that and Wembanyama only played 30 minutes on the night.
That was enough for the Spurs to cruise to a comfortable 125-92 win on the road. Reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle was the second-best player on the court in this game and added 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while last June’s No. 2 pick in the draft, Dylan Harper, came off the bench for the Spurs and scored 15 in an uneven game that showed a lot of promise. Anthony Davis led the Mavericks with 22 points and 13 rebounds.