By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Initially listed as questionable to play on Tuesday, Victor Wembanyama was cleared and helped the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 130-110, in Frost Bank Center.
A second win over the defending NBA champions over the last ten days was the seventh in a row in the 2025-26 Regular Season. The first triumph was in the Emirates NBA Cup Semifinals in Las Vegas, three days before falling to the New York Knicks in the championship game. However, the latter fixture does not count toward the Regular Season, nor disrupts the longest active winning streak in the league.
Coming off the bench for a sixth consecutive showing since returning from a left calf strain, the 21-year-old French center logged 23:08. He made 5/9 field goals en route to 12 points to go with five rebounds and three assists. However, his streak of at least one block ended at 101 games.
“It looked like we were locked in, and were really different from any team in the league, especially on the defensive side,” explained Wemby in a postgame press conference.
Polish teammate Jeremy Sochan did not play for the team coached by Mitch Johnson.
On the wrong end, German Isaiah Hartenstein (right soleus soreness) returned directly in the starting lineup, scored eight points on 4/7 two-pointers, and grabbed 12 rebounds. In contrast, Belgian Ajay Mitchell (concussion protocol) joined French Ousmane Dieng (right calf strain) and Serbian Nikola Topic (testicular cancer treatment) on the sidelines.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropped a game-high 33 points, but to no avail.
After improving to 22-7 and limiting the leaders of the Western Conference and overall standings to 26-4, the Spurs rematch with the Thunder on NBA Christmas Day 2025 on Thursday.