NEW YORK — High on the scoreboard at Madison Square Garden, a video montage of blocked shots from New York Knicks of old played as DMX’s “Party Up” blared over the public address system.
But on the court Wednesday, no Knick could jump high enough to swat a shot launched by Victor Wembanyama, its 8-foot-2 owner with a standing reach of nearly 10 feet. In his debut on Christmas Day, the Frenchman defeated the Knicks for a game-high 42 points – the most by a visitor during Christmas at Madison Square Garden – and then added 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks in a 117-114 San . Antonio Spurs’ loss was caused by a 41-point effort from Mikal Bridges.
Wembanyama let out a deep sigh and paused for five seconds to reflect on his performance in a match that Spurs had a chance to draw in the final minute.
“I don’t even know the history of the best Christmas plays,” Wembanyama said. “I think about the match now and think we were close, but relaxed at some points.”
Wembanyama became the third player in NBA history after Wilt Chamberlain (1959 and 1961) and Nikola Jokic (2022) to score more than 40 points with more than 15 rebounds in a Christmas game. His 42-point performance ranks third in NBA history for a player making his Christmas Day debut behind Chamberlain (45) and Tracy McGrady (43).
“Good Lord, man,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said of Wembanyama. “He’s different. The league will be in good hands if all the old guys and elder statesmen like LeBron [James] And [Kevin Durant] are out of the [sport]. His release point is so high and his ability to shoot, it opens everything up for them.”
The showdown was only the third instance of 40-point dueling on Christmas in NBA history. The last two occurred in 1961 in matches that pitted Elgin Baylor against Oscar Robertson and Chamberlain against Richie Guerin.
Wembanyama has put together four straight games in which he made at least four three-pointers and blocked four shots. The 20-year-old is the only player to achieve these figures in consecutive matches.
“He’s done a good job of imposing his will and putting his stamp on the game,” Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson said. “Strong catches, finishes and drives to the rim. Obviously he made some shots and did a good job defensively. I thought we bonded as a team and at times it showed his individual skills in that area.”
Wembanyama started slowly offensively, making just three of nine shots from the field in the first quarter while missing his first four attempts from three-point range. On the defensive side, he made an immediate impact with a blocked shot after three minutes of action. In fact, the Spurs big man limited the Knicks to 3-of-13 shooting on the day as the struggling defenseman. Wembanyama held Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns to 1-of-9 shooting from the field as the battling defenseman.
“He uses his God-given attributes,” Towns said. “That makes him a special defensive player, as does his ability to cover space. He is athletic and moves fast enough to reach the spot. He is big enough to convert shots. He is blessed by God and uses his talent for his family and the Spurs organization.”
Wembanyama didn’t catch fire offensively until the second quarter, when he scored 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting with 7 rebounds and 2 made 3s on 50% shooting. By halftime, Wembanyama had scored 24 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. It was only the third time in the past 25 years, after Shaquille O’Neal (2000) and Anthony Davis (2015), that a player scored at least 20 points with 10 boards before halftime of a Christmas Day game.
Wembanyama hit a game-high 6 3s. But the setback at MSG marks the first time this season that San Antonio has lost a game in which it shot at least 40% from distance as a team.
The Knicks’ dominance on the offensive glass (17 offensive rebounds) played a role, as they outscored the Spurs in second-chance points 19-13, while outscoring them 58-50 in paint scoring.
“I don’t think it was a game about momentum. I think it was a game about being a dog,” Wembanyama said. “When the clock starts running – five minutes, three minutes – we let them get some rebounds on us. We let them move us around a little bit too much. That’s what it was about. They didn’t beat us because they played better basketball.” Tonight we just proved that we are not ready yet [switch] we must [flip] because I’m sure we’ll see that it works and we’ll get hooked on playing this way. It takes a lot of effort to play like that, but it also brings a lot of reward.”
Before every outing, when the clock shows the game is 60 minutes away from tip-off, the Spurs like to play a quick game of trivia with various basketball-related topics. Scoring on Christmas Day was the topic before the game against the Knicks, according to point guard Chris Paul, who finished with seven assists and moved to seventh on the all-time list for assists on Christmas.
“We’re all trying to guess,” Paul said. “I think [McGrady] was there, Luka [Doncic]. Vic had 42, so now he’s on that list. Do you understand what I mean? We see him day in and day out. So we are not surprised about that. For us, the next step is to win those games. That’s all that matters.”