Victor Wembanyama‘s first visit to Detroit saw him play just 22 minutes and make only six of his 16 shot attempts. Ordinarily, those stats do not portend a successful night. But this is Victor Wembanyama, who just turned 20 years old and keeps showing that he is unlike any seven-footer who came before him,
Wembanyama on Wednesday night recorded the first triple-double of his young career, scoring 16 points from those 16 shots while adding 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Spurs against the lowly Pistons. The timing of Wembanyama‘s triple-double — which, oddly, featured zero blocks — has many wondering whether it is a new NBA record, seeing as the Frenchman turned 20 less than a week ago.
Spurs surprise Victor Wembanyama on birthday
Who is the youngest player to record a triple-double?
At 19 years and 84 days old, Oklahoma City‘s Josh Giddey was nearly a full younger than Wembanyama when he notched a triple-double against the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 2, 2022. This remains the NBA record — and Giddey went on to record three more triple-doubles before turning 20 years old. LaMelo Ball, Markelle Fultz, and Luka Doncic (four times) also recorded triple-doubles before their 20th birthdays.
However, Wembanyama did become the youngest player in the history of the Spurs’ franchise to post a triple-double, and he did carve out a slice of league history by notching the triple-double at Little Caesars Arena without recording a single turnover — making him the youngest-ever player to take care of the ball that well during a triple-double performance. In the past 40 years, only Russell Westbrook has reached double-digits in three categories while playing less than 24 minutes.
A rare win for San Antonio
In addition to Wembanyama’s historic night, the Spurs put in a total team effort to ease to a 22-point win over the Pistons — who have not won since ending their 28-game losing streak on Dec. 30.
San Antonio‘s 130-108 win improved its record to 6-30 — which remains the worst mark in the Western Conference. But unlike other nights this season, Wembanyama received some help shouldering the load offensively. The Spurs had eight players score at least 10 points on Wednesday night, and Gregg Popovich‘s bench alone scored 70 points — accounting more than half San Antonio’s total for the evening.
Meanwhile, Detroit fell further into the NBA abyss and looks well on its way to another losing skid of at least 10 games. The 3-35 Pistons did not have star guard Cade Cunningham available Wednesday due to a knee strain, although replacement Killian Hayes recorded a game-high 12 assists. Center Jalen Duren led all scorers with 21, but Detroit shot under 46 percent as a team and only 31 percent from three-point range.
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