NBA crime thriller ends bitterly
World champion crashes on the very long arm of the “Alien”
March 18, 2024, 6:51 a.m
Victor Wembanyama is a giant: The French super talent is already racking up huge statistics in his first NBA season. German ambitions simply bounced off the San Antonio Spurs professional team during the night.
Dennis Schröder made an irresistible move to the basket – and was denied by the long arm of the “alien”. The captain of the German basketball world champions lost in the NBA with his Brooklyn Nets to the San Antonio Spurs with the brilliant “Alien” Victor Wembanyama. At 115:122 after overtime, Schröder rebounded off the French super talent 25.4 seconds before the end – the Nets’ hopes for the playoffs suffered another setback.
The Wagner brothers, on the other hand, are fully on track with Orlando Magic. The team from Florida also won the second duel with the Toronto Raptors within two days, Franz Wagner (22) and Moritz Wagner (14) contributed important points to the 111:96. As fifth in the West, Orlando (40 wins, 28 defeats) has a cushion over its pursuers.
This also applies to the Los Angeles Clippers in the East (fourth place), but they continue to weaken with Daniel Theis. The 93:110 against the Atlanta Hawks was the fourth defeat in the past five games. World champion Theis (three rebounds) remained without points.
His national team colleague Schröder had 19 points, but the playmaker missed the possible decision shortly before the end. The man of the evening was the 2.24 meter tall Wembanyama, who had 33 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 blocks – extraordinary statistics in just 36 minutes. Schröder was on the court for six minutes longer. Brooklyn, eleventh in the East, has four fewer wins than the Atlanta Hawks (29:37), who currently occupy the last place for the play-in tournament.
As the bottom team in the West, the Spurs no longer have a chance of making the play-offs and are even more looking forward to the coming season, when they will play in Wembanyama’s homeland. Wembanyama and coach Gregg Popovich indicated after the game that the Spurs would be selected for the NBA’s upcoming “Paris Games.” “I can hardly wait. This game or these games will be very important for me, it is my home, it is my city,” said the 20-year-old Frenchman.