Wembanyama powers Spurs to historic 5-0 start with dominant performance against Heat
Victor Wembanyama led the San Antonio Spurs to their first 5-0 start in franchise history Thursday night, putting up 26 points, grabbing 18 rebounds, dishing out six assists, and swatting away five blocks in a hard-fought 107-101 win over the Miami Heat.
“It feels great,” said Wembanyama after the game. “It’s not random. We didn’t get those five wins randomly. We worked for it.”
The 7-foot-4 French phenom shot 10-of-23 from the field and came up huge when it mattered most.
“We started this season strong, and we need to keep that streak going for as long as possible,” he added.
The Spurs managed to hold Miami – a team that came in averaging a league-best 131.5 points per game – to their season-low scoring output.
They completely shut down the Heat’s offense in the third quarter, allowing just 14 points.
But the game wasn’t without drama. San Antonio watched their comfortable 15-point lead evaporate in the final quarter when Miami went on a blistering 17-1 run. Heat star Bam Adebayo caught fire, pouring in 12 of his season-high 31 points during that stretch.
That’s when Wembanyama took over on defense.
All five of his blocks came in the second half, with three in the crucial fourth quarter alone. His defensive presence helped the Spurs regain control and secure the historic win.
The moment was clearly special for the young star. With just 14.9 seconds left and the Spurs up by five, Wembanyama fell to the court, flexed, and let out a roar toward the home crowd.
“That instant, I’m feeling like it’s like the exclamation point when we have [a] 99% chance of winning the game. It’s just me feeding off that energy,” he explained.
“It feels great because it was a hard game and it feels good to have this relief and to live that with these people. I was thinking about the 5-0 record, the Spurs’ history and I was just proud of being a Spur at that moment.”
Wemby’s Historic Start
The performance marked Wembanyama’s third career game with at least 25 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 blocks.
That puts him third in Spurs history for such games, trailing only Hall of Famers David Robinson (8) and Tim Duncan (6).
Pretty impressive company for a player still early in his NBA journey.
Through five games this season, Wemby is putting up monster numbers across the board: 30.2 points, 14.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 4.8 blocks per game. He’s also shooting a career-best 56.3% from the field while playing nearly 34 minutes a night.
The stats are literally historic. According to ESPN, Wembanyama is only the second player in NBA history to average at least 30 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocks through the first five games of a season since 1973-74 (when blocks became an official stat). The only other player to do it? Bob McAdoo back in 1975.
Thursday’s win over Miami (3-2) might be the most impressive of San Antonio’s perfect start. Their first four opponents – the Mavericks, Pelicans, Nets, and Raptors – have struggled out of the gate with a combined record of just 3-16.
The Spurs will look to keep their perfect record intact when they visit the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
