Spurs nearly collapse but Wembanyama’s wild stat helps maintain perfection

Three from three for the San Antonio Spurs. They almost blew a massive first-half lead after dominating early on Sunday morning in Texas, but managed to close it out against the Nets as they should have. Alongside the Thunder, they remain the only unbeaten team with three wins to start the season. Once again at the Frost Bank Center, Victor Wembanyama was the undisputed star.

The superhuman from Le Chesnay was at the heart of that electric first half, leading the Spurs as they played some near-perfect basketball. He finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks – a day after swatting nine shots. Over this three-game stretch, his combined total of 100 points and 45 rebounds marks a statistical milestone never before seen in the NBA. Madness upon madness. His effortless dominance leaves you speechless with almost every play. And he’s not alone in this young, wildly talented Spurs team. Dylan Harper, filling in with De’Aaron Fox injured, is seizing his moment. The rookie – the second pick of this year’s draft – came off the bench but shone bright: 20 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals, shooting 8-for-11 in just under 30 minutes. Texas is going to fall for him fast.

Cam Thomas leads Nets’ near comeback

The Nets never gave up, even when they seemed down for the count, mounting a comeback that nearly stunned the Spurs. Cam Thomas poured in 40 points, the spark behind Brooklyn’s rally. The free-spirited scorer, under Badalona-born coach Jordi Fernández, looks poised for a breakout season. With ten minutes left, the Nets had taken the lead – and later even stretched it to five points.

Dylan Harper steadied things for San Antonio after Brooklyn’s surge, putting up seven points and an assist in key moments to halt the Nets’ momentum. That word – impulse – sums up the visitors’ energy. Thomas, who shot 11-of-25 from the field and a perfect 13-of-13 from the line, carried the load, but Harper, despite his inexperience, held his ground. Wembanyama stayed quiet during the Spurs’ slump but woke up just in time to close it out.

A promising start with room to grow

The Spurs are taking full advantage of a relatively soft early schedule to pile up wins – something that could prove crucial if they want to finish among the top 10 in the Western Conference. Technical chief Brian Johnson will need to refine Harper’s role and manage the logjam in the backcourt, though that’s a good problem to have given the depth of talent emerging in Texas. Those adjustments will be key for ensuring a stable medium- and long-term future for this promising young team.

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San Antonio Spurs

Stats

40 Harrison Barnes
30 Julian Champagnie
1 Victor Wembanyama
5 Stephon Castle
24 Devin Vassell
18 Bismack Biyombo
11 Carter Bryant
2 Dylan Harper
55 Harrison Ingram
3 Keldon Johnson
25 David Jones-Garcia
0 Jordan McLaughlin
27 Riley Minix

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
40 Harrison Barnes	25	4	3	3	0	1	2	0	0	0/0	2/4	0/5	0	1	0
30 Julian Champagnie	31	13	6	0	6	2	0	0	0	2/3	1/1	3/4	0	3	0
1 Victor Wembanyama	36	31	14	1	13	4	2	3	6	10/15	6/15	3/6	0	3	0
5 Stephon Castle	30	13	6	2	4	3	5	0	0	3/5	5/8	0/2	0	4	0
24 Devin Vassell	35	16	2	0	2	1	2	1	0	0/0	2/6	4/6	0	2	0
18 Bismack Biyombo	11	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	2	0
11 Carter Bryant	4	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2/2	0/0	0/0	0	2	0
2 Dylan Harper	29	20	6	1	5	8	0	2	0	4/4	8/11	0/0	0	4	0
55 Harrison Ingram	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
3 Keldon Johnson	28	19	7	3	4	1	0	1	0	7/7	3/5	2/4	0	1	0
25 David Jones-Garcia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
0 Jordan McLaughlin	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/1	0/0	0	1	0
27 Riley Minix	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0

Brooklyn Nets

Stats

14 Terance Mann
17 Michael Porter Jr.
33 Nicolas Claxton
77 Ben Saraf
24 Cam Thomas
21 Noah Clowney
8 Egor Demin
10 Tyson Etienne
9 E.J. Liddell
13 Tyrese Martin
20 Day'Ron Sharpe
88 Nolan Traoré
1 Ziaire Williams
22 Jalen Wilson

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
14 Terance Mann	30	7	6	3	3	3	0	2	0	0/0	2/4	1/3	0	2	0
17 Michael Porter Jr.	37	16	6	0	6	4	0	2	0	3/4	2/6	3/8	0	2	0
33 Nicolas Claxton	26	10	5	3	2	2	0	1	0	2/2	4/6	0/1	0	5	0
77 Ben Saraf	14	0	1	0	1	5	0	1	0	0/0	0/2	0/3	0	3	0
24 Cam Thomas	32	40	2	0	2	0	3	0	0	13/13	6/13	5/12	0	0	0
21 Noah Clowney	23	7	3	0	3	2	0	0	0	1/1	0/1	2/7	0	3	0
8 Egor Demin	18	3	4	1	3	1	2	0	0	0/0	0/0	1/5	0	3	0
10 Tyson Etienne	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
9 E.J. Liddell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
13 Tyrese Martin	12	4	2	1	1	3	1	0	0	2/2	1/2	0/2	0	1	0
20 Day'Ron Sharpe	15	6	3	2	1	1	4	2	0	0/0	3/3	0/1	0	4	0
88 Nolan Traoré	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
1 Ziaire Williams	13	5	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	2/2	0/0	1/4	0	5	0
22 Jalen Wilson	15	9	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	0/0	0/0	3/4	0	2	0