Victor Wembanyama finishes with 15 points in debut as Spurs lose

SAN ANTONIO – As Victor Wembanyama walked onto the Frost Bank Center court during pregame warmups for his NBA regular-season debut, he extended his arms across the tunnel to greet fans on both sides before entering the field.

Wembanyama’s performance was hampered by foul trouble, but he put on quite a show for a packed house of 18,947 in the fourth quarter before the Dallas Mavericks pulled away from Wembanyama’s Spurs with a 126-119 victory .

“A lot of emotions, for sure,” Wembanyama said after the match, “but it would have been perfect with a victory.”

Wembanyama said it was “surreal” to see the number of fans in the building before the first game and he got things going on the right foot.

On the Spurs’ first defensive possession, Wembanyama blocked Dallas’ Kyrie Irving. But as the match progressed, Wembanyama found himself battling foul trouble throughout the night.

He picked up his second foul with 43.5 seconds left in the first quarter and played just 5 minutes, 33 seconds in the second quarter. In the third, Wembanyama committed two fouls in the first 3:23 after halftime and sat for the rest of the quarter.

When he returned for the fourth quarter, he quickly found his way to the bench after just 26 seconds as he picked up his fifth foul for touching a Luka Doncic drive.

Wembanyama returned to the game with 7:12 remaining and immediately made his presence felt by catching a lob from teammate Devin Vassell. He scored nine in the quarter, but it wasn’t enough as Irving and Doncic scored 3-pointers to secure the victory.

“One of the hardest things for a player is to get in trouble,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “You never get into a rhythm, you come in and out of the game and that sort of thing. I thought his maturity showed, even at a young age where he came in with the last seven minutes and just played.

“We did some stuff for him, he executed where a lot of guys would have been totally out of action at that point because, like you said, they were struggling and didn’t have the rhythm. I thought he had a wonderful outing considering that.”

Wembanyama played 23 minutes and finished with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from deep.

Despite the foul trouble, he said he tried his best to stay positive throughout the stretch.

“It can be frustrating, but always keeping my head up is good for my teammates,” Wembanyama said. “I can’t show it on the pitch, and we’re learning every day.”

Vassell, who led the Spurs with 23 points, said he expects big things from Wembanyama when he returns to the court Friday when San Antonio hosts the Houston Rockets. But he also said it’s still a learning experience for the rest of the roster.

“We all seek to understand each other,” Vassell said. “We’re all trying to understand Wemby. He understands us. We just have to figure out how to play as a team and make sure the game is easy for him and he doesn’t have to do as much as he has to do in situations iso and just give him easy lobs, easy looks to get him going.

“He demands so much attention, if they double-team him, we have to be able to cut and make some plays from that.”

Doncic, who finished with 33 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, said he enjoyed facing Wembanyama in his first game.

“It was fun,” Doncic said. “We knew the whole building was going to be loud and everything. He’s probably one of the top prospects coming into the NBA, so it was fun. For me personally, I like a challenge, so it was a challenge amusing.”

Doncic and Irving combined to score 20 of the Mavericks’ 30 in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Irving finished with 22 points and six assists.

After the match, Doncic praised the Spurs newcomer, saying Wembanyama was going to be “amazing”.

“He obviously has the size, obviously like everyone talks about, but the way he moves for 7-5, 7-6 – I don’t know what it is, sorry – but he moves incredibly,” said Doncic. “He moves almost like a point guard. So it’s pretty amazing to see him. He’s going to have a big future, and it’s going to be incredible to watch.”