Spurs fans are in for a ridiculously fun season. Victor Wembanyama will lead the [journey back to the playoffs](https://airalamo.com/spurs-could-leap-even-biggest-fans-dont-see-coming), and it's going to be magical watching him really step into his status as one of the league's most elite superstars. We should look forward to a ton of dominant games from him, so the truly special ones are going to look ridiculous, and I suspect it won't take long to get the first one.
San Antonio gets a shot at Houston on November 7 in their first NBA Cup game. That'll be a tough matchup, and while I do anticipate Wembanyama turning in a strong performance, you have to give credit where it's due. Rockets Head Coach Ime Udoka has proven formidable. He's found ways to frustrate the Alien and hold him to more respectable numbers.
That's why the next game is where the hurt really comes. The Houston game will be physical and possibly even maddening at times for the Spurs. They'll need to play as a team to get the win against last year's Western Conference two-seed. [The very next night](https://airalamo.com/nba-handed-spurs-schedule-mercy-desperately-needed), they host the New Orleans Pelicans, and that's why Vic is going to explode.
The Pelicans are going to get the worst of Wembanyama's frustration
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We're talking the beginning of the third week of the Spurs season here. But here's the rub: I think Vic is going to average around 27-28 points per game, along with 12 rebounds, and I don't see a reason why he won't keep blocking about four shots every night. So, he's going to have great games over the first two weeks that will be awesome based on last year's standards, but it's a new year.
Last year's amazing games will simply be par for the course for the 7'4" Frenchman. When the Pelicans come to town, I'm thinking 40 points, at least 15 rebounds. The other numbers are much harder to predict, but I can see more than five blocks and over five assists. It'll be a jaw-dropper that helps his early case for MVP.
Let's not forget that he's fifth at FanDuel in odds to win the Most Valuable Player of the Year award. The oddsmakers believe that we're about to see something special, and we should, too. New Orleans will get a heavy dose of it. They're not a very good team, and they only have one 7'0" or over player on their roster. His name is Hunter Dickinson, and he's on a two-way contract. We're not worried about him.
It'll be utter dominance from the older half of Area 51. There are other bad teams on the schedule before this one, but Brooklyn is the third game, so it may take a little more time to truly get going, and it remains to be seen exactly how bad the Suns will be. I think it's a safe bet to look at the Pelicans as the perfect punching bag.