Wembanyama puts up a rare 40 point 20 rebound rebound performance in OT thriller
Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama has been a rookie revelation this season and is a runaway favorite for the rookie of the year award but a recent performance has put him in rarified air. On Friday, the Spurs took on the New York Knicks and Wembanyama put on a performance for the ages. Wembanyama had a career-high 40 points and added 20 rebounds and seven assists leading the Spurs to a 130-126 win over the Knicks in overtime. The Spurs were able to defeat the Knicks despite an unbelievable career-high 61 point performance by Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson.
With his performance, Wembanyama became the first rookie since Shaquille O'neal to have a 40 point, 20 rebound game since Shaq's 46 point, 21 rebound performance on Feb. 16, 1993. Wembanyama not only had a great overall performance but also came through in the clutch hitting a game sealing three pointer to give the Spurs a four point lead in overtime.
Even the opposing team was impressed with Wembanyama's impressive performance as Jalen Brunson stated, “He’s going to be one of the greatest players this game has seen, just the way he’s built. What he’s been able to do so far. I have a lot of respect for him.”
Are Luka and Kyrie the most dangerous duo in the West?
The Dallas Mavericks have been playing arguably their best basketball at the right time as they are currently on a league best 7 game win streak. With their recent success they have been able to climb up the western conference standings as they now sit at the fifth seed and just two games behind the Clippers for the fourth seed in the West. A major reason for the Mavericks success has been due to their dynamic duo in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving who have played phenomenal togther. Luka is the NBA's leading scorer averaging 33.8 points per game while also being ranked third for assists per game. Though his running mate, Kyrie Irving dealt with injuries earlier in the season he has been lethal when healthy averaging 25.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.
With the way the Mavericks are currently playing they are a team that should be feared come playoff time. Of course, Luka and Kyrie are a major catalyst of that but even more so their combination is arguably the most dangerous right now. When comparing to other teams in the West with star duos there is simply no other duo playing at a higher level right now. Over the course of this win streak we are seeing the full potential of how great this duo can be together. Their most impressive performance as a duo over the streak came Sunday against the red hot Rockets who were on a NBA high 11 game win streak at the time. The Mavericks dominated the game basically from start to finish as Luka and Kyrie combined for 71 points and blew out the Rockets on the road. If Luka and Kyrie continue to keep the Mavericks playing at such an elite level I would not be surprised to see them steal home court from the Clippers and make a deep playoff run.
Should the Celtics be concerned after back to back losses to the Hawks?
Boston has by far the best record in the league this season but managed to hit a rough patch this week against an undermanned Atlanta Hawks team that is in the final play-in spot in the East. The first game came on Monday night where they were up by 30 points in the first half yet allowed the Hawks to get back into the game in the second half and steal a win from the Celtics. In the second matchup, the game was competitive throughout despite all the pieces the Hawks were missing such as their star guard Trae Young. Fortunately for the Hawks they still had another talented guard in Dejounte Murray who took over the game especially in overtime scoring 11 of his 44 points in the extra period. Murray would later hit the game winning shot .1 secs left to earn back to back win against the First seeded Boston Celtics. With the win, the Hawks became just third team with multiple wins against the Celtics joining the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers.
The Celtics were able to bounce back from their losses to the Hawks with a big road win over the Pelicans but their play at times in both losses should definitely be a concern for a team with championship aspirations. First, a major concern from both losses was how stagnant their offense became down the stretch of the game. Several times in the fourth quarter they had possessions with minimal ball movement where the Hawks were able to focus on either Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum and force them into highly contested lower percentage shots. Another concern should be defense as though they have a top five defense on the season they did not play like it against the Hawks. In both games, they gave up at least 120 points and allowed a historic comeback in the first game. They were also outrebounded in both games despite averaging the second most rebounds per game as a team. Boston is still an elite team that should still be the favorite to make it to the Finals but avoiding the making the same mistakes they made against the Hawks against elite playoff teams should be paramount for them.
Game of the week- The Lakers took on the Bucks on the road without Lebron James but managed to overcome a 19 point fourth quarter deficit to outlast the Bucks in double overtime. Antony Davis led the way with a huge 34 point 23 rebound performance while Austin Reaves put up his second career triple double performance in the 128-124 win.
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