San Antonio sat in collective disbelief. Efforts aimed at processing what they had just seen in Phoenix actually matched their joy. Because of a national television broadcast, many around the country watched in awe as well. The heralded big man and unanimous top overall pick in the most recent NBA Draft had just put the basketball world on notice with an astounding fourth quarter.
Yes, Tim Duncan had arrived.
25 years later, Victor Wembanyama's own 38-point, 10-rebound, 2-block performance for the San Antonio Spurs at the Phoenix Suns is sending shockwaves across the league.
Victor Wembanyama vs. Tim Duncan
While Tim Duncan's 32 points, 10 boards and pair of rejections in his first-ever playoff game gave the San Antonio Spurs a 1-0 lead in the first round of the 1998 NBA Playoffs, Victor Wembanyama's 38 points to go with exactly 10 rebounds and two blocks pass Duncan in the franchise's rookie record books. Only 41- and 39-point outings by David Robinson, also a No. 1 overall draft pick by the Spurs, during his first campaign in 1989-90 top Wemby's effort in the 132-121 win at Phoenix.
102-96 was the final on that April 23 night in the second-to-last year of the 20th century. A Spurs team that also featured Robinson and franchise favorite Avery Johnson went to Duncan on the block down seven with 10:30 remaining in the game. Seven and a half minutes later, Duncan had scored 15 points in a flurry that left the Spurs with a four-point lead. The future Hall of Famer totaled 18 points in that final period.
Wednesday night in Arizona, Victor Wembanyama and these Spurs found themselves on the other side of the coin to a certain extent. The Suns came all the way back from a 27-point deficit when former Spur Keita Bates-Diop hit a corner triple that evened things at 116 with 4:21 to go.
From there, the 19-year-old French phenom took over. He drew fouls on the Spurs' next two possessions. He caused a turnover before a lefty slam in the lane on the ensuing trip down the court. About a minute later, he hit a triple before knocking down a foul line jumper on the next offensive possession to push the lead back to 12. Less than three minutes after Devin Booker and Kevin Durant led the Phoenix charge to even things, Wemby had outscored the two of them 10-0.
Wemby, Pop react to takeover
“Someone's got to do it,” said Victor Wembanyama of his fourth-quarter run. “Tomorrow it might be one of my teammates.”
Durant, the player the 7-foot-4 marvel is most often compared to, dismissed such a comparison after a second loss to Wemby and the Spurs in as many games.
“He is going to create his own lane, much different than anybody who's ever played.”
And as if the moment each provided, the city of Phoenix, and the similar statistics weren't enough of a parallel between the Spurs' greatest player and the young man who could take that mantel one day, there is one more link.
“He's a multi-faceted player. He'll pass to the open guy,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Wembanyama. “He's got confidence in himself. He made some plays that were unbelievable. That combination is pretty good.”
Duncan's playoff debut also served as the first of the Hall of Fame coach's 169 career postseason victories.
“Every game, we try to find the sweet spot where we need to hurt them,” Wembanyama said. “Today it might be this way, tomorrow it might be someone else. It’s how great teams work.”
Tim Duncan knows a thing or two — or five — about how great teams work. Five games into his NBA career, Victor Wembanyama is serving notice.
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