Recap: Wembanyama, Spurs take down Wizards on French Heritage Night

The French national teammates squared off during the Wizards’ French Heritage Night, and Wemby’s 31 points and 15 rebounds were too much for the Wizards.

The Washington Wizards fell to the the San Antonio Spurs tonight, 131-121. The Wizards stormed back from being down multiple times, but they just couldn’t quite come all the way back.

Entertaining the fans and keeping the game competitive but then ultimately losing to keep the draft lottery odds up? Now that’s prime Wizards basketball.

On French Heritage Night, Victor Wembanyama got on the board with a heels-on-the-logo three-pointer. Then, on the next possession, he drained another. Then another. Then he sank a one-legged fadeaway over Bilal Coulibaly. Wemby’s 11 straight points were immediately followed up by a Chris Paul three-pointer. All of that was part of a Spurs 22-0 cascade during which the score went from 10-6 Wizards to 28-10 Spurs in the blink of an eye.

The Wizards very well could have laid down and died, but they showed immense heart through the end of the first quarter and into the second, and eventually they retook the lead on a Jordan Poole three-pointer.

The two teams traded buckets for the remainder of the game, most notably Wemby for the Spurs and Tristan Vukcevic for the Wizards — It was actually a Vukcevic deep three that closed the door on the Spurs’ 22-0 run. Vukcevic had 14 points in the first half, just five shy of his full-game career-high of 19, and he finished with 18.

Here are some of my notes from tonight’s game:

• Vukcevic was met with applause from the crowd each time he checked in and out of the game, a luxury which, in my time covering the Wizards, has tended to be reserved for visiting All-NBA level players. That a player on a two-way contract received that sort of treatment in just his 23rd career game really caught my attention.
• The Wizards really spread the wealth during this game. At one point halfway through the fourth quarter, all five Wizards on the court had between 10 and 12 points. All nine Wizards who played scored in double digits, but none cracked 20 points.
• This was my first time seeing Wemby play in person, and I was even more blown away than I was expecting. That a person with his physical profile can move like he can, let alone with the ball in his hands, is a miracle of nature.
• One of my favorite plays from this game was when Devin Vassell blocked a Malcolm Brogdon layup and then Justin Champagnie cleaned up the rebound and hammered it home without touching the ground. Check it out:

• And while I’m highlighting sweet plays, we can’t forget about Bilal Coulibaly dunking on his French national teammate Wemby!

• Late in the fourth quarter while the Wizards were roaring back into the game, Richaun Holmes decided to spot up for his third three-point attempt of the season. He airballed it.
• Wemby blocked a Corey Kispert three to seal the game. Just think about that for a second.

With the loss, the Wizards fall to 9-44. Next up, Washington hosts the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.