Victor Wembanyama scores 42 in a memorable Christmas debut but Spurs fall short against the Knicks

NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Wembanyama nearly obliterated the Spurs’ Christmas record book in his first time playing on the holiday.

Nearly won the game, too.

His 42 points and 18 rebounds could only get San Antonio close before falling short, with the New York Knicks pulling out a 117-114 victory Wednesday.

Wembanyama left Madison Square Garden with one of the greatest Christmas debuts in NBA history but without the thing he coveted most.

“I’m thinking about the game right now,” he said after a long pause, “and just thinking that we were close but we lack some attributes at times.”

Wembanyama stared at the box score on the table in front of him as he spoke, and his line on it was eye-popping. Besides the 42 points and 18 boards, he had six 3-pointers, four blocked shots and four assists.

Only Wilt Chamberlain (45 in 1959) and Tracy McGrady (43 in 2000) had more points in their first time playing on Christmas. LaMarcus Aldridge had the previous highest total for a San Antonio player, scoring 33 in 2016.

“We expect that from him,” Spurs veteran Chris Paul said. “Us that see him day in and day out, we’re not surprised by that. I think, for us, the next step is winning those games.”

Wembanyama was just short of the Spurs’ record for rebounds on Christmas, with Hall of Famer David Robinson grabbing 19 in 1999.

He had a couple of chances in the final minute, but neither he nor any other Spurs could grab two missed shots by the Knicks in the last 30 seconds. Josh Hart got them both, allowing the Knicks to run out the clock.

“It sure feels like you can’t do anything about it, but this is why you have to do everything you can before when you can,” Wembanyama said.

The Spurs got a spot on the most anticipated date on the NBA schedule mostly because of Wembanyama, the 7-foot-3 phenom from France who was the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft and went on to win Rookie of the Year honors.

He was the Western Conference player of the week last week and had averaged 32.7 points and 7.3 blocks in his previous three games. Wembanyama leads the NBA in the latter category and has taken his offensive game to a new level with the depth from where he can launch 3-pointers. His six 3s on Wednesday give him 23 in his last four games.

“He’s taking a lot of long 3s. He took a lot of 3s. He’s a different Wemby than what I remember the rookie year,” Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said.

As for how to defend a player who can do all that?

“If the physicality is allowed, I think it’s possible you can do more stuff,” Towns said. “Also if someone just finds the potion somewhere to be 7-5, 7-6, then we (would) be solid.”

Wembanyama and Knicks guard Mikal Bridges, who scored a season-high 41 points, became the first pair of opposing players with 40 or more on Christmas since 1961, when Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Oscar Robertson each hit that mark in a Lakers victory over Cincinnati.

The Spurs figure to get plenty more chances to play on the holiday as long as Wembanyama is around.

“Tonight just proved that we’re not ready yet,” he said, before turning positive about the way the Spurs played and predicting they would become addicted to doing so.

“This is how I see it, because it’s high effort to play like that but it’s also high rewards.”

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