SAN ANTONIO — Sitting one help shy of a triple-double, Victor Wembanyama launched an inbounds Hail Mary move that teammate Stephon Citadel transformed right into a bucket with 0.2 seconds left within the Spurs’ 125-120 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.
The play had no impact on the result of the sport, nevertheless it gave Wembanyama his tenth help to go along with 31 factors and 15 rebounds whereas Citadel completed with 23 factors, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, making them the fifth duo in NBA historical past to every produce a 20-point triple-double in a sport, in response to ESPN Analysis, and the primary in Spurs historical past.
“I used to be interested by [the double triple-double] after all,” Wembanyama stated of his inbounds move. “I do not even keep in mind the rating, however I believe it was the fitting choice.”
Wembanyama and Citadel additionally turned the primary teammates to every file 20-point triple-doubles in a loss.
“Clearly, we needed to win,” stated Citadel, a second-year guard who had the primary triple-double of his profession. “However yeah, glad to get [two triple-doubles]. It’s one thing nice to be part of. Proud to be part of it, however we would have liked to win so as to add onto it.”
Golden State guard Stephen Curry prevented that by racking up a game-high 46 factors because the Warriors related on 21 3-pointers in overcoming a 16-point first-half deficit and turning it right into a 10-point lead within the closing minute of the third quarter.
Citadel and Wembanyama reached their triple-doubles within the final six seconds of the sport. Citadel grabbed his tenth rebound with 5.4 seconds to play in finishing his triple-double. Wembanyama accomplished his second profession 30-point triple-double with the full-court heave that Citadel banked in simply earlier than the ultimate buzzer.
Wembanyama additionally had eight turnovers, one shy of his profession excessive. Citadel had his fourth straight sport with 10 assists.
“Yeah, these guys have been competing,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson stated of Wembanyama and Citadel. “They’re doing a number of good. We simply must attempt to navigate among the peaks and valleys. We’re simply having too many lows. There’s nonetheless a number of highs, and we’re doing a number of good issues. However we simply must be extra constant.”