In the wake of the loss of Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox for the season, it's been a large cast of characters that have had to step up for the San Antonio Spurs. For Wednesday night's 120-105 win over the New York Knicks, it was Sandro Mamukelashvili who took charge.
Mamukelashvili played 19 minutes off the bench and rained fire down upon the Knicks' defense. Mamukelashvili scored 34 points, making 13 of his 14 field goals, and going a perfect seven-of-seven from behind the arc. Mamukelashvili added nine rebounds, three assists and a steal in his +22 effort in the victory.
Mamukelashvili's lone missed shot was courtesy of a Mitchell Robinson block.
Mamukelashvili's Wednesday night heroics marked a career-high against his hometown team. His previous career-high was a 28 point performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers when Mamukelashvili was playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. Mamukelashvili's previous career high in three-point field goals was four, a mark he shattered.
Mamukelashvili became just the fifth player this season to shoot 100 percent from three-point range on seven attempts or more, joining Jose Alvarado (27 points, 7/7 from three), Stephen Curry (30, 8/8), Ty Jerome (33, 8/8), and Desmond Bane (44, 7/7).
Mamukelashvili didn't make an appearance until the second quarter, but made efficient use of his time. In Wembanyama's absence, Mamukelashvili has seen increased playing time.
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Coming into Wednesday night, Mamukelashvili was averaging 11.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game over his last three games, despite averaging just 14.0 minutes per night.
Mamukelashvili has put himself on the map with this performance, and is likely to continue to see increased playing time for the Spurs given the limited front court depth. Mamukelashvili has only had two games this season in which he has played 20 or more minutes, maxing out at 22 minutes. Both 20-minute games were double-digit point efforts.
Born in New York City, Mamukelashvili grew up in his native country of Georgia before moving to Italy at the age of 14 to pursue basketball. Mamukelashvili attended Montverde Academy for his senior season, eventually committing to Seton Hall to play collegiately, where he was named Big East Co-Player of the Year in his senior season.
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This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 12:04 AM.