SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama produced his 12th career 30-point game and his first this season Monday in leading his team to a 116-96 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Wembanyama scored 34 points with 14 rebounds, six assists and three blocks in his 82nd career NBA game, becoming the sixth player in league history to have more than 1,700 points, more than 800 rebounds and 300 or more assists during his first 82 games. The 20-year-old joins a group that includes Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sidney Wicks, Larry Bird and Blake Griffin.

“He makes shots every day,” Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson said. “He missed really good shots to start the year, and I understand why that’s a topic of conversation. But I don’t think we ever got over the fact that he wasn’t making shots. I think at this point it’s just the percentages are.”

Wembanyama connected on 6 of 12 from 3-point range for the Kings – who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back set – to match his career-high in made 3s set Saturday in a 111-110 loss against the Utah Jazz. The Frenchman made two of his first three attempts from three-point range in the first quarter and two of three in the second quarter as San Antonio held a 38-29 lead at intermission.

Looking to do much of his damage from the perimeter through the first eleven games of the season, Wembanyama shot 10 of 41 from three-point range in the previous five games before hitting 12 of 21 from deep over his last two. With Spurs leading by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter, Wembanyama increased the shot accuracy even more to close out the match, sinking 4 of 5 from the field and 2 of 3 from beyond the arc .

He sent the Frost Bank Center crowd of 17,163 into a frenzy with 58 ticks left on the clock, with a putback following a miss by Stephon Castle.

“I think what’s definitely changed is I haven’t taken fewer 3s,” Wembanyama said. “I’ve been hitting better 3s, I think. Of course it feels better. I’m 20. I hope it will feel better and better over a number of years. There’s no reason why it should feel worse.”

Wembanyama’s performance against the Kings marked his seventh career game with 30 points or more, more than 10 rebounds and at least five assists. The Spurs now have a 5-7 record in those games.

“He’s a great shooter,” Spurs forward Harrison Barnes said. “I’ve never doubted his ability in terms of shooting, in terms of playing. For us, it’s just continuing to make those shots even if we don’t make them. Obviously, in the beginning of the had some trouble shooting this season. But we’re just going to continue to make shots with confidence and let them fly.”

Defensively, Wembanyama stringed together his fifth straight game with three or more blocks, which is tied for the second-longest streak of his career, just four games shy of the nine-game streak he posted last season from February to March. put rope. Wembanyama recorded one of his three blocks against three-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis.

“Domantas is a top-five center in the league,” said Barnes, a former teammate of Sabonis in Sacramento. “His stats speak for themselves. To make sure Vic is up to the challenge tonight, he often guards him one on one. That was a big effort against a big player.”

Veteran point guard Chris Paul teamed up with Wembanyama on Sunday and Devin Vassell, who made his season debut on Saturday after missing the first nine games of the season. The trio took another extra session together during the team’s shootaround on Monday.

“I wish you could see how much work comes in day in and day out,” Paul said. “Things happen in the game where we all see the growth, everyone on the team. So it’s nice to see that.”

Paul scored 12 points against the Kings and added 11 assists for his 531st career double, which all guards say ranks third since the NBA-ABA merger behind John Stockton (714) and Magic Johnson (615). Paul already has four games to his name with 10 points or more and more than 10 assists, after finishing with five such performances in 58 games last season.

“I think it was one of those nights where we got back to our strengths,” Wembanyama said. “We needed points, and we also had guys we knew we had to get back to.”