By Reinaldo Oliveros
San Antonio Spurs fell 117-114 to the New York Knicks, but Víctor Wembanyama had a historic performance. The French center finished with more than 40 points and 15 rebounds in his first Christmas game.
Wemby finished with 42 points and 18 total rebounds in the Spurs’ loss to the Knicks. This is the second highest amount for a player in their first Christmas game.
Wilt Chamberlain continues with the record of 42 or more points and 15 or more rebounds in a Christmas game. The legendary Hall of Fame owns the mark with 45 points and 34 total rebounds.
Chamberlain achieved the record in 1959 in a Philadelphia Warriors uniform. Two years later, Wilt surpassed the record by scoring 59 points with a total of 36 rebounds, the highest mark on this special date.
Wemby left behind Nikola Jokic, who had managed to score 41 points with 15 rebounds in the 2022 Christmas Game against the Boston Celtics.
Wembanyama has averaged 25.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in 25 games this season.
Knicks took a close game against Spurs
San Antonio and New York traded leads throughout the game and neither team was able to gain a large lead.
The Knicks had a one-point lead after the first quarter and the Spurs had a seven-point lead (58-51) at halftime.
That trend continued into the third quarter, with the Knicks entering the final 12 minutes of play with a five-point lead.
The Spurs had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but were unable to get a rebound after a pair of missed shots by New York.
Jeremy Sochan had a strong performance on Christmas Day with 21 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs.
Devin Vassell added 11 additional points. Chris Paul had 13 points and seven assists, while Tre Jones had a team-high nine assists off the bench.
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