SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama got a rude New York welcome from physical defenders and rowdy fans at his Madison Square Garden debut as the Knicks beat the Spurs 126-105 on Wednesday night.
San Antonio's 19-year-old rookie missed his first 7 shots as the team fell behind by as many as 30 to the hot-shooting home team.
The Worlds' Most Famous Arena is the beating heart of New York City, and that's thrilling for any performer, whether you're a boxer or a hockey player or a piano man. Billy Joel called it the center of the universe, and Elton John said it was his favorite venue. Even though it's been 50 years since the home team won a title, this is the Mecca of basketball.
"Pretty incredible... it's not as big as I expected, but still, the vibe is here," the Spurs rookie said as he looked around the Garden on Wednesday morning, adding that he expected a physical game and passionate fans.
That's exactly what he got.
The Garden feels a lot bigger when there's over 18,000 screaming fans rocking the building. They gave a loud roar when Wembanyama's name was announced in the starting lineups, then continued to make noise as he missed all five of his shots in the first half. The Knicks got hot from three and built a lead as big as 21, and San Antonio pulled it to within 14 at halftime. The Spurs did a decent job of getting the ball to Wembanyama and creating open shots for the offense, but a lot of those shots were just way off for him and everyone else.
The Knicks had built their lead to 30 before Wembanyama hit his first shot on his eighth attempt. New York shot 15-31 from three in the first three quarters, the Spurs just 6-27. Wembanyama went to the free throw line at the end of the third quarter after a physical play, seemed miffed, and heard the New York faithful chant "OVERRATED" as he hit both.
He caught the ball on the block and popped it in through a foul for an and 1, and Malaki Branham got a few tough layups and a three. Wembanyama rolled on a weakside pick and roll, spun through the defense and dunked it. Sochan dimed on a Zach Collins three, then carved inside for a crafty finish off the glass. Tre Jones smoked a transition layup but blocked the ensuing three, then kicked it to Keldon for three. Pop called time with 6 minutes left and a 17-point deficit and put Wemby back in.
Wembanyama tipped an offensive board to himself and finished another lefty layup through the foul, hitting his sixth free throw to cut it to 14 as the confidence from Knicks fans rapidly transformed into nervous energy. Jalen Brunson hit a deep three over the rookie's outstretched arms to bring a sigh of relief, Pop cleared his bench for the final 3 minutes down 21.
Wemby finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and a block on 4-14 shooting and 0-4 from the arc. Sochan led the team with 16 points and added 6 rebounds and 5 assists with no turnovers. At the end of the day the Knicks scored 30 more points from three and won by 21 in another frustrating learning experience for the rookie and this young Spurs team.
San Antonio actually won both the second and fourth quarters, the problem was they were outscored 67-37 in the first and third combined.
A good amount of fans and reporters were there just to see the player hailed as the best prospect since LeBron for the first time. It was the early game on ESPN, and the cheapest tickets are twice as expensive as New York's next home game.
The Spurs went from largely ignored to the national spotlight in the bounce of a few ping pong balls, and the sports media environment in New York is a year-round circus unlike anything else.
Wemby got his first taste of that at what was reportedly one of the most heavily attended pre-game shootarounds for the Spurs outside of maybe the Finals. One reporter asked Wembanyama how much he knew about the history here, and if that makes it mean a little more.
"Of course, yeah, it does. I've heard from so many people that this is the best basketball gym in the world and I'm eager to find out. I'm definitely expecting some good team and individual performances here," the 19-year-old Frenchman said.
Whether it was an intentional touch from the schedule makers or a cosmic wink, Michael Jordan made his stellar MSG debut 39 years ago today.
Wemby clearly has a deep respect for the Garden, but you might not realize that if you saw the hilarious but out of context and misleading quote graphics that just said, "it's not as big as I expected."
All of this is a good reminder that Victor Wembanyama is already one of the most famous and recognizable stars in the basketball world, and the bright lights bring obsessive fanatics and casual observers and trolls farming rage clicks and robots who reply to tweets about trending topics with links to cryptocurrency scams. It's a level of celebrity we're not used to seeing in San Antonio, and it's a good thing he seems so used to it.
The last time he was in NYC was for the draft, and he crammed his 7'3" frame into a subway car and threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium that also didn't quite go as planned. There was that incident in Vegas where a fan approached him from behind and got tangled up with security, and the fan was Britney Spears. He's mingled with the San Antonio community and also with Drake. Most recently he was pictured with Tom Brady, who may have taken some liberties with his proportions.
"I really like the vibe from him, very humble and interesting, but also interested in knowing people. It really feels good to see people who are successful, but happy people. It looks like he's happy with the life he's got and he just makes other people around happy," Wemby said of the seven-time Super Bowl champ.
That level of stardom brings scrutiny everywhere, especially on the court. Wembanyama had helped lead the Spurs to three consecutive wins, first in overtime against the Rockets and then twice against KD and the Suns. Then San Antonio blew a big lead to Toronto and lost again the next day in a huge blowout in Indiana.
Last year this team was expected to lose, but after what we've seen from Wemby already expectations have risen. Every win is valuable, every loss dissected and argued about online ad nauseum.
Many tuning in for the Wemby show are unhappy that he isn't getting the ball enough, especially after putting up 38 against Phoenix and touching the ball less in subsequent losses. Some are already tired of Gregg Popovich's experiment with Jeremy Sochan playing point guard. Some have even accused the Spurs, who have the third-most assists per game, of playing selfishly because they're jealous of the rookie. The numbers don't support that narrative, though.
While San Antonio should certainly be working on getting him the ball more and in better areas, the reality is a combination of several far less absurd things. This is a young team still working on the fundamentals and building chemistry on the court, and they just added a new piece that completely changes the way they play. In addition, the previous two losses came without Devin Vassell who is their most consistent shooter and wing defender. He came off the bench with a cautious 12 minutes against the Knicks.
San Antonio has struggled at the arc on both ends of the floor, and defenses have been able to pack the paint, double team and key in on Wembanyama.
It speaks to his talent that he already commands that sort of attention, on the floor and off it. The Garden is a humbling place to stand and a wild place to play, and Wembanyama learned that the hard way on Wednesday.
A three-game losing streak has San Antonio sitting at 3-5 heading into their first In-Season Tournament game on Friday against the surging Timberwolves.