**LOS ANGELES —** Victor Wembanyama drove his way through defenders to a dunk. He hit a setback 3-pointer. He posted up a smaller player, then spun around him and dunked. He hit a catch-and-shoot 3. He cut through the lane, corralled the pass and dunked it. Then there was another catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.
That was all in the first eight minutes of the game — when he had 25 points, including 17 straight at one point. He’s the first Spur to score 25 in a quarter in the play-by-play era (1997).
“I think the two areas where he is pretty hard to give resistance \[against\] are when he has space or momentum...” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I thought tonight he did really well in both those cases.”
Wembanyama finished the night with 40 points, tying his season high, and did it in just 26 minutes because he didn’t have to play the fourth in San Antonio’s 136-108 win over the Lakers.
This was a shorthanded Lakers side without Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart. It was the kind of game where Bronny James and Drew Timmy were getting important second-quarter minutes because that’s who JJ Redick had available.
Which is exactly what fired up Wembanyama, because the Spurs had lost focus in similar moments earlier this season.
“What got me going, honestly, was proving myself a point, proving my team in point. I’m not, as I said before, I’m not worried about us, not worried about me against good teams, but history has showed that I need to be worried about us against teams like this.”
Wembanyama kept rolling in the second quarter and by halftime had 37 points on 12-of-17 shooting (3-of-5 from 3) plus eight boards.
He took his foot off the gas a little in the third quarter, hitting just one 3-pointer, as most of the second half was little more than garbage time.
Wemby and the Spurs will take that — and the win.
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