Victor Wembanyama delivered one of the most efficient scoring explosions of the season Tuesday night, dominating the Los Angeles Lakers in limited minutes while making it clear afterward that he still wasn’t satisfied.
The San Antonio Spurs superstar poured in 40 points in just 26 minutes during a commanding 136-108 win, helping his team take control early before watching the entire fourth quarter from the bench.
Despite the blowout victory, Wembanyama admitted he was eager to continue building his stat line before being shut down for precautionary reasons.
“I was also pushing to go back, but I mean, they did the right thing by keeping me on the bench,” Wembanyama said. “We got to think long term. But yeah, these kind of games, you got to have the greed. I mean, every game you have to have this greed to want more every time, because you know at all times it doesn’t matter who’s on the court, it’s somebody who’s going to want to stop you from doing what you do out there. So you got to be greedy.”
The performance placed Wembanyama in extremely rare territory, marking just the 5th time in the shot clock era that a player has scored at least 40 points in 26 minutes or fewer, according to ESPN.
He also added 12 rebounds, joining Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing as the only players in NBA history to produce a 40-point double-double in that limited playing time.
Wembanyama’s aggressive approach was noticeable from the opening tip, as he erupted for 25 points in the first quarter alone while shooting 8-9 from the field.
The early explosion came with a clear purpose, as the Spurs looked to avoid the type of complacency that has occasionally hurt them against undermanned opponents.
“What got me going was just honestly proving myself a point, proving my team a point,” Wembanyama said. “I’m not worried about us, not worried about me against good teams, but history has showed that I need to be worried about us against teams like this. So yeah, I mean, we don’t just talk about what we need to do. We need to actually act.”
READ MORE: Jason Tatum Breaks Silence on Recovery & Celtics’ Dominance