Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs score their first victory of the NBA season

A little relief, but not yet a big deal for Victor Wembanyama and his family. The San Antonio Spurs obtained their first success of the season on Saturday October 24 by winning against their “neighbor”, the Dallas Mavericks. The victory is quite clear (122-106), and does not suffer from any dispute against a team not destined to play in the forefront unlike the Spurs, outgoing finalists. If Wembanyama delivered a solid performance (23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks), the interior was far from satisfied.

The Habs were one of the driving forces behind this victory, with a good passage in the second and third quarters to consolidate their team's lead. San Antonio led 68-60 at the break, and ended up breaking away with a 17-5 in the fourth and final act. Victor Wembanyama put his paw there, with an alley-oop, a dunk directly on a lobbed pass, with the fault of one of his opponents as a bonus. “We started to have good shots in each position” at the end of the match, said the captain of the France team.

But true to himself, he was also quite critical of San Antonio's sluggish start to the season, with two inaugural defeats against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets. "It's normal that we're not as good as when we were in the heart of the playoffs," he reacted after the game on Saturday. "On the other hand, it's not normal to be as bad as we were, at least during the first two games. I don't feel very good because, if that were the case, we would have won more games. solutions and continue to build. The good news is that we have 79 games left. We know what we are preparing for.

Victor Wembanyama's ambition had so far encountered several obstacles at the start of the season, a slight offensive apathy in particular, but also an adaptation to opponents ready to thwart the Spurs. To the point that Spurs coach Mitch Johnson did not make this first victory a celebration.

It's like we lost. Mitch Johnson spoke to us in an inspiring way to set the tone for the rest of the season. Each match is different and each victory is difficult to achieve, regardless of the opponent. His speech was very determined, very strong.

Victor Wembanyama

At a press conference Saturday October 24

It's up to San Antonio to implement it, with a more affordable schedule for these next matches, against Sacramento on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, then at Utah on the night of Wednesday to Thursday.

Miami in the tough, Philadelphia unwinds

The Spurs can console themselves a little by saying that the situation could be much worse. Like in Miami, although reinforced this summer by Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo, but still without the slightest victory after three meetings. The Heat lost to Charlotte (110-115), with only 14 points from their new star.

On the other side of the rankings, the Philadelphia 76ers confirmed their good start with a third success, this time against Milwaukee (127-116). Veteran LeBron James was even able to be rested without consequences, with a great overall performance from Joel Embiid, author of a triple-double (28 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), Jaylen Brown (27 points), Tyrese Maxey (26 points) and VJ Edgecombe (17 points, 13 rebounds). “It’s great to get off to a good start, but we still have a lot of work to do,” said Jaylen Brown, who celebrated his thirtieth birthday on Saturday.

Houston is the other team with a 3-0 record after beating Atlanta 121-114, thanks to seven players scoring between 11 and 22 points.