Wembanyama posts first triple-double as Spurs beat Raptors
TORONTO— Victor Wembanyama had 27 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high 10 blocks in his second triple-double, Devin Vassell added 25 points and the San Antonio Spurs snapped a seven-game losing streak by routing the Toronto Raptors 122-99 on Monday night.
Wembanyama made 10 of 14 attempts and had five assists and a pair of steals in 29 minutes as the Spurs won for the first time since Jan. 27 against Minnesota. His previous career high for blocks was eight, set against Memphis on Nov. 18. He leads the NBA in that category.
It was the first triple-double with blocks since Clint Capela had 13 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks for Atlanta against Minnesota on Jan. 22, 2021. That had also been the last time anyone in the NBA blocked 10 shots in a game.
Jeremy Sochan scored 16 points and Keldon Johnson added 12 as San Antonio snapped a four-game road losing streak.
Tre Jones had 10 assists for the Spurs. San Antonio finished with 37, one shy of matching a season high.
Gradey Dick scored 18 points, Kelly Olynyk had 17 and RJ Barrett 13 for the Raptors, who had won the past six meetings with San Antonio. Toronto has lost 14 of 18.
Toronto All-star Scottie Barnes, who registered his third triple-double of the season in Saturday’s home loss to Cleveland, had nine rebounds and nine assists against the Spurs but shot 3 for 15 and scored seven points.
Wembanyama blocked Toronto’s opening shot of the game, followed up with a 3-pointer, then added an alley-oop dunk as the Spurs started with a 10-0 run and led 34-28 after one quarter. The rookie had nine points, four rebounds and three blocks in the first.
Vassell scored 13 points in the second and Wembanyama had 10 as San Antonio stretched its lead to 67-50 at the half. The Spurs scored 15 points off nine Toronto turnovers in the second quarter.
Wembanyama shot 7 for 8 in the first half. He made both of his 3-point attempts as San Antonio was 7 of 13 from distance in the first two quarters.
Wembanyama blocked six shots in the third and Vassell scored 12 points as the Spurs outscored the Raptors 36-25 to take a 103-75 lead to the fourth.
BULLS 136, HAWKS 126
ATLANTA— Ayo Dosunmu had a career-high 29 points and seven assists as Chicago scored a season-best point total.
Demar Derozan scored 29 points and Nikola Vucevic added 24 points and 11 rebounds. Coby White added 20 points and seven assists.
Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’andre Hunter led the Hawks off the bench. Bogdanovic had 28 points and Hunter 23. Trae Young had 19 points, including 2-for-10 shooting from 3-point range.
The win kept Chicago two games in front of the Hawks for the No. 9 seed in the East. The Bulls have won both games against Atlanta this season.
HORNETS 111, PACERS 102
CHARLOTTE, N.C.— Miles Bridges had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Charlotte won its second straight game since adding five new players via trade.
Newcomers Grant Williams, Seth Curry, Tre Mann and Vasilije Micic added an offensive spark for the Hornets, who finished with 27 assists. Williams led the way with 21 points and Curry added 18 off the bench. Mann got the start and finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Myles Turner had 22 points and Aaron Nesmith scored 21 for the Pacers. Tyrese Haliburton chipped in 13 points and 12 rebounds while playing 34 minutes in the loss.