Add a 50 point game to the growing legend of Victor Wembanyama.

The San Antonio Spurs’ second star reached the milestone before the middle of the fourth quarter as the Spurs pulled away from the Washington Wizards in a 139-130 victory on Wednesday in San Antonio. Wembanyama accomplished the feat in 32 minutes of playing time, hitting 18 of 29 shots and eight three-pointers, along with six rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

50 POINTS FOR WEMBY AND COUNTING 🚨

There are six minutes left in the match 👀

🎥 @NBApic.twitter.com/EMGKtNSO2k

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 14, 2024

Wembanyama started Wednesday with a career-high 40-point game in late March against the New York Knicks.

At 20 years and 314 days old, Wembanyama becomes the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to score 50 points in a game, behind Brandon Jennings, LeBron James and Devin Booker.

Before Wednesday’s game, Wembanyama’s second season was off to a slower start than his rookie campaign, averaging 19.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game with lower field goal and 3-point percentages than in 2023-24.

With Wednesday’s win, the Spurs improved to 6-6. The team has been coached on an interim basis by assistant Mitch Johnson for the past seven games since coach Gregg Popovich suffered a mild stroke on Nov. 2, according to a medical update the team shared on Wednesday.

A HISTORIC evening for Wemby.

🔥 Career-high 50 PTS
🔥Career-high 8 p.m
🔥 Fourth youngest player to score 50
🔥 First Spurs player with 50+ PTS and 17+ 3:00 PM pic.twitter.com/mCSSssKWPQ

— NBA (@NBA) November 14, 2024

Wembanyama’s historic shooting after a poor start

Wembanyama’s first 50-point game comes just as he is starting to heat up this season. After struggling with his jumper early — making just 21.4 percent of his seven three-point attempts per game through his first eight games — he was on fire for his final three. The 7-foot-4 prodigy has made at least six threes in each of his last three games, hitting an absurd 20 of his 36 three-point attempts in that time.

Wembanyama is the first center to ever hit at least 20 3s in a three-game span, according to Basketball-Reference. To my knowledge, he is the first player taller than 6-foot-1 to ever hit 20 3s in a single three-game period. — Sam Vecenie, senior NBA writer

Wemby cooked the Wizards greats all evening

Of course, it’s worth noting that the Wizards are perhaps the team in the league least equipped to deal with Wembanyama. This season, they rank 26th in the NBA, 2-8. Plus, the matchup just isn’t in their hands.

The Wizards’ starting center, rookie Alexandre Sarr, is not strong enough to support Wembanyama and prevent him from reaching the basket. However, their backup centre, Jonas Valančiūnas, is not quick or flexible enough to stay ahead of his drives. They all had moments where Wembanyama was able to break free from them, either by bouncing or the ball, to fire a 3.

All of that led to several high points where Wemby rode an impressive array of eurosteps or crossovers to split up and either score on the edge or get fouled. Even when the Wizards were able to close him down and stop his drive, he also showed some impressive mid-range jumpers, with his high release point allowing the French phenom to shoot over defenders who were only 7 feet tall.

Given his success, this match was probably the best summary of why Wembanyama is such a mismatch problem across the league. He tends to get red hot from 3, but then can drive and attack when Spurs need a shot, or when he gets an opportunity in space on an empty side of the pitch. And let’s not forget his ability to crash the offensive glass and create extra points via put-backs or tip-outs. He only had one tonight, but he normally creates a significant amount of points above that per game. — Vecenie

Where does that leave Spurs early in the season?

For much of the first part of the season, the team’s defense led by Wembanyama has kept them afloat. Coming into tonight, they were eighth in defensive rating league-wide, allowing just 110.3 points per 100 possessions. Wembanyama was the biggest part of that defensive structure, stopping opponents from even shooting infield on a nightly basis due to his height. With Wembanyama in the game, Spurs’ opponents are shooting just 56.3 percent from the rim, a number that would be the best in the entire league if he played all 48 minutes per game. He has been so dominant on the interior.

After this win, the Spurs are tied for 10th in the West and look dangerous as a potential spoiler for a place in the Play-In Tournament if Wembanyama stays healthy all season. They have wins over the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings, and have been competitive in every game save for a loss on the road to the Rockets. — Vecenie

Required reading

(Photo: Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)