By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Paris wanted Victor Wembanyama to shine and that’s what happened in the first of the two games between the San Antonio Spurs and the Indiana Pacers.
“Tonight was definitely different,” Wembanyama said. “It’s a different kind of support that the crowd brings. We try to use the circumstances to our advantage every time, and tonight was an easy night to use that.”
Wemby finished the night with 30 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 blocked shots as the Spurs won 140-110, San Antonio’s second-largest victory margin of the season and Indiana’s second-largest defeat margin.
“I would just say it’s a pleasure to be part of a league with Victor Wembanyama,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said before the game.
And of course, the young NBA star was the center of everything in Paris, with the crowd cheering for him on every possible occasion.
“The ovation for him obviously was very, very moving just in terms of a reflection of how this city and country and these people feel about him and he feels about them,” acting Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “There are certain games you know you don’t need to get the guys up for, as you say. This was one of them.”