Julian Champagnie on Wednesday rattled in 11 three-pointers and Victor Wembanyama scored 31 points as the San Antonio Spurs came from behind to defeat the New York Knicks 134-132 in a New Year’s Eve thriller.
San Antonio, beaten by the Knicks in the NBA Cup final two weeks ago, avenged that loss in sensational fashion after clawing their way back from a 19-point second-quarter deficit to score a superb win.
French prodigy Wembanyama was instrumental in the victory, leading a determined fightback that included 31 points and 13 rebounds before he exited with a leg injury early in the fourth quarter.
Photo: AFP
Wembanyama later returned to sit on the bench and celebrated with teammates as the Spurs closed out a roller-coaster victory that improved them to 24-9 and kept them second in the Western Conference.
While Wembanyama played a crucial role in the comeback win, Champagnie provided the offensive spark, unleashing an incredible three-point barrage to finish with 36 points.
Champagnie’s blitz included four threes in the fourth quarter as San Antonio drew level before pulling clear.
Photo: AFP
“It feels great man — just go out there and do my job,” Champagnie said afterward. “That’s all I can do... I was just trying to shoot the basketball.”
A crowd of 18,602 at San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center had been subdued earlier in the fourth quarter when Wembanyama hobbled off the court following an awkward landing from a rebound.
Wembanyama later said that he expected to make a quick recovery from what he called a left-knee hyperextension.
Photo: AFP
“My body’s feeling good, just sore,” Wembanyama said. “I’m very confident, optimistic. I expect to be back next game — I don’t know that [the team] expects.”
Wembanyama went down with 10 minutes, 32 seconds to play in the game as he attempted to secure an offensive rebound.
He stayed down until teammate Stephon Castle helped him up, then hobbled straight to the locker room while giving fans reassurance and saying: “I’m fine. I’m fine.”
Photo: AFP
“I was confident. I was this close to coming back in the game,” he said. “[The team] had to hold me back. It was just a hyperextension, so it should be minimal. We’ve got to do everything tomorrow still to check that everything’s OK.”
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks scoring with 29 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 20.
In other games on Wednesday, the Golden State Warriors maintained their impressive recent run of form with a 132-125 road win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Stephen Curry, playing in front of his hometown fans, led the Golden State scoring with 26 points, including five threes, as the Warriors bagged their fifth victory from their past six games to improve to 18-16 in the Western Conference standings.
Playing for the 13th time in the state in which he starred in high school and in college, Curry drilled five of his 10 three-point shots on a day when the Warriors went a sizzling 24 of 49 from beyond the arc.
Jimmy Butler and Brandin Podziemski backed Curry with 19 points apiece.
Curry, who had been serenaded with chants of “MVP” during a road game in Brooklyn on Monday, was given a warm reception by a record Charlotte crowd of 19,685 fans.
“It never ceases to amaze me the support he has everywhere,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Curry. “It makes sense given who he is, what he’s accomplished, what kind of human being he is... It’s a sign of how much Steph impacts people; there’s something magical about him.”
In Cleveland, Ohio, Donovan Mitchell outdueled Devin Booker to lead the Cavaliers to a 129-113 blowout over the Phoenix Suns.
Mitchell scored 34 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists, while Booker finished with 32 points in a losing effort.
The Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 124-95 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 30 points.
C.J. McCollum scored the game’s final four points, including a jumper with 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation time, as the Washington Wizards rallied for a 114-113 road win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s shot with 0.4 seconds remaining was off the mark, giving the Wizards their third win in their past four outings.
Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington each compiled 20 points for Washington, while McCollum finished with 18 points.
Antetokounmpo totaled 33 points and 15 rebounds, and Kevin Porter Jr added 19 points for the Bucks.
In Indianapolis, Indiana, Paolo Banchero scored the go-ahead layup with 7.5 seconds left to lift the Orlando Magic over the Pacers 112-110.
In Toronto, Peyton Watson scored 24 points and added eight rebounds as the injury-depleted Denver Nuggets defeated the Raptors 106-103, Jalen Johnson and Kristaps Porzingis returned to lead the Atlanta Hawks past the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-102 and the Chicago Bulls beat the New Orleans Pelicans 134-118.
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