Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama scores 50 points and becomes the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to reach the mark

Well, that’s it for Victor Wembanyama’s slow start to the season.

The reigning Rookie of the Year made just 14 3-pointers in his first nine games this season, connecting on just 22.6% of his attempts over that stretch, while raising questions about how he was being used by a Spurs team that was still figuring out how to take advantage. to the maximum. your superstar in the making. Those questions have already been largely answered in their last three games. On Saturday against the Jazz, Wembanyama hit six of his nine attempts from deep to score 24 points. On Monday against the Kings, he hit six 3-pointers again, but this time on 12 attempts in an upset win over Sacramento.

And Wednesday? Wembanyama had the best overall scoring game of his career, and once again it largely came from behind the arc.

Wembanyama scored 50 points in a 139-130 victory over the Washington Wizards. Sure enough, Wembanyama’s three-point shot was once again the catalyst for his historic night. He made 18 of 29 field goals and made eight of his 16 attempts from deep.

The explosion made history Wednesday on several levels. Wembanyama is now the fourth-youngest player to cross the 50-point threshold, behind Brandon Jennings, LeBron James and Devin Booker. Since Jennings and Booker are point guards and James is a forward, that also makes Wembanyama the youngest center to score 50 in NBA history.

On that front, it’s not especially close. The next closest center, Shaquille O’Neal, was 22 years and 45 days old when he turned 50. Wembanyama is more than a year younger, at 20 years and 314 days old.

He is also the first Spurs player to score 50 points and at least five three-pointers in a game, although surprisingly this game does not represent a “Wembygami”, that is, a statistical line never before seen in NBA history. Luka Doncic has also reached 50 points, eight triples, six rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal in a single game. At least on that front, Wembanyama will have to settle for joining a very exclusive club alongside another future Hall of Famer.

If you want more Wednesday night history, you can console yourself with becoming the tallest player in NBA history to make eight 3-pointers in a game.

As impressive as the 50-piece team is, how it got there is what matters most to the Spurs. We all knew that Wembanyama would eventually score 50 in a game. His three-point shooting earlier this season was starting to look like a real long-term problem. In the span of three games, he increased his season-long percentage from 22.6% to 34.3%, slightly below the league average of 36.6%.

It’s a small sample size on both fronts, but it’s a proof of concept. Wembanyama may not be hitting threes consistently yet, but over the last three games we’ve gotten a glimpse of how terrifying he can be when his jumpers fall. The Wizards’ 50-point annihilation on Wednesday was the culmination of that trend.

With his size, scoring near the basket is a given. If he can also score away from there, he will be completely and absolutely unstoppable.