Victor Wembanyama Stats Tonight: No. 1 pick nearly guides Spurs to improbable win with stellar defensive showing (March 19)

Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs gave the Dallas Mavericks a tough fight before succumbing to a 113-107 defeat. The young Spurs suffered a 4-0 shutout in the season series against their highly-touted opponents. But for the first time in three games, Tuesday’s showdown nearly went to the inexperienced hosts' favor.

San Antonio showed stubbornness that caused the visitors plenty of problems. The Mavericks led by as many as 13 points in the first half but the Spurs refused to quit. Wembanyama helped his team to two 11-0 runs to start the third and fourth quarters, respectively.

Except for the first period, the next three frames were mainly a dogfight. Victor Wembanyama’s defense prevented the Mavs from running away with the game.

Here are Wembanyama’s box scores for Tuesday’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks:

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	FG	3-PT FG	FT	+/-
Victor Wembanyama	12	11	3	1	6	5	3-13	0-4	6-7	+5

The stat sheet showed Victor Wembanyama blocking six shots, which was twice more than what the entire Mavericks could do. What the table does not show is the shots he altered while anchoring the Spurs' defense. Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic couldn’t drive into the lane as they wanted.

Irving and Doncic, who are fond of throwing lobs to their athletic bigs and wings, were extremely careful with their passes near the rim. The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama’s frame and 8-foot wingspan were a deterrent in the shaded lane. “Wemby” was also a menace when switched on to guards because of his mobility and ability to recover when beaten off the dribble.

Victor Wembanyama had 23.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.5 blocks over/under props. The Frenchman couldn’t get over his points and assists props but he vaulted over his rebounds and blocks odds.

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Victor Wembanyama is in contention to win Defensive Player of the Year award

Victor Wembanyama steadily pushed his name into the Defensive Player of the Year award conversation this season. If he does the improbable, he will become the first rookie to earn such honors.

Last season, the Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. grabbed the award. He finished the 2022-23 campaign with 189 blocks and 65 steals. Wembanyama has already zoomed past those numbers with roughly still a month to play.

Leading into the San Antonio Spurs’ matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, Victor Wembanyama had already amassed a league-leading 207 blocks to go with 76 steals. Those are staggering numbers and considering “Wemby” is a rookie, what he has done has simply been mind-blowing.

Rudy Gobert, the favorite to win his fourth record-tying DPOY, has 135 blocks and 78 steals. Wembanyama has already said that his countryman is deserving of the honor, but who knows how the next few weeks will play out. Gobert has been sidelined with a rib injury while the rookie continues to dazzle.

It will be interesting to see if Wembanyama will carve his name on the NBA’s record books by season’s end. The phenom’s defensive brilliance could be recognized with a first DPOY award for a rookie.