Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday ran roughshod over the injury-depleted Los Angeles Lakers, the French superstar matching his NBA season high with 40 points in a 136-108 rout.
Wembanyama, whose California swing includes a second All-Star Game appearance on Sunday, added 12 rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot, connecting on 13 of 20 attempts from the field in his 26 minutes of work.
The Lakers were without a raft of starters, with LeBron James and Luka Doncic sidelined along with Austin Reaves and Marcus Smart.
Photo: AP
Doncic missed a third straight game with a hamstring strain. James sat out the second night of a back-to-back to manage foot arthritis.
Wembanyama took full advantage, setting the tone with 25 points in just eight minutes on the floor in the first quarter.
He had 37 by halftime — the most by any player in a first half this season — when the Spurs led 84-55.
Photo: AFP
He cooled off in the third quarter, but matched the 40 points he put up on opening night before sitting out the fourth period with the rest of the Spurs starters.
The only down note for the Spurs was an injury to Stephon Castle, who took a hard fall under the basket in the second quarter and exited with a pelvic contusion.
In New York, the Indiana Pacers, fueled by 30 points from Pascal Siakam, stunned the Knicks 137-134 in an overtime thriller at Madison Square Garden.
Eight Pacers players scored in double figures to bring home the win in a game that featured a season-high 39 lead changes.
Andrew Nembhard added 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Quenton Jackson scored 19, including two game-sealing free throws with 3.9 seconds left in overtime.
Jalen Brunson scored 40 points with five rebounds and eight assists for the Knicks, while Josh Hart chipped in a triple-double of 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points apiece — Towns drilling two free throws to force overtime before fouling out in the extra session.
The Pacers scored the first nine points in overtime before the Knicks staged a furious rally, cutting the deficit to one on a three-pointer from Brunson before Jackson closed it out at the line.
The Pacers have been a shadow of the team that beat the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined by the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered in their NBA Finals loss to Oklahoma City, but they snapped a four-game skid with just their fourth road win of the season, this one against a Knicks team that came in tied for the second-most home wins in the league with 21.
“This was a really important game for us,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “The season that we’ve had, this environment, the opponent — our guys had a great collective spirit and collective will tonight.”
In Houston, Texas, Kevin Durant scored 26 points to lead the Rockets to a 102-95 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Down by one at halftime, the Rockets took control in the third quarter.
They led by six going into the fourth and quickly pushed the lead to 15 to cruise home.
In Phoenix, Arizona, the Suns mastered the Mavericks 120-111.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Fenerbahce on Thursday earned a rare 2-1 win in England, but were still knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Nottingham Forest in the playoffs. Forest entered the second leg with a healthy 3-0 lead from the opener in Istanbul — where Vitor Pereira made an impact in his first game in charge — and that proved enough to advance to the round-of-16 with a 4-2 aggregate score. The result was a boost for Forest, struggling at 17th place in the Premier League, in their return to Europe after three decades. They next face Real Betis Balompie or Kerem Akturkoglu gave Fenerbahce
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
RSS