Wembanyama Scores Career-High 52 Against Mavericks

How to watch: Dallas Mavericks at San Antonio Spurs, Wednesday, November 4, 9:30 p.m. ET at Frost Bank Center
TV: ESPN

Victor Wembanyama 52 Points Started With A Historic First Half

The game was shaped before half-time. Wembanyama posted 29 points and 15 rebounds in the first half alone, powering San Antonio to a 68-51 lead at the break after quarters of 32-26 and 36-25. Dallas had no matchup for him at either end: he scored inside, lived at the free-throw line, and turned the paint into a no-entry zone for Mavericks drivers.

The half carried a league first. The NBA marked it on its official account during the game, calling Wembanyama “the FIRST PLAYER in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98) to record 25+ PTS, 10+ REB and 5+ BLK in a single half”. Play-by-play records in the NBA go back to the 1997-98 season, and in nearly three decades of tracked halves, no player had combined scoring, rebounding and rim protection at that level in 24 minutes. Wembanyama cleared all three marks with room to spare.

The Second 50, 20 And 5 Game Since Bob McAdoo

The full line pushed the night from a career game into league history. Wembanyama finished with 52 points on 16-of-28 shooting, going 19-of-23 at the free-throw line, with 24 rebounds, eight blocks, two assists and two steals. By doing so, he became the second player in league history to finish a game with at least 50 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks since the NBA began recording blocks as an official statistic. The only other player on that list is Bob McAdoo, who did it in 1974, more than half a century ago. The full box score is in the official ESPN game recap.

Both headline numbers were personal bests. His 52 points passed the 50 he scored against the Washington Wizards on November 13, 2024, and ESPN reported the 24 rebounds as a career high as well. That it came with eight blocks from the reigning Defensive Player of the Year underlines what makes the performance singular: this was not a scorer abandoning the other end to chase a number. Wembanyama controlled the game at the rim on defence while carrying the entire scoring load on offence, and San Antonio outscored Dallas by 23 points during his minutes.

Dallas Nearly Stole It In The Fourth Quarter

For a while, the second half looked like a procession. San Antonio led by as many as 19 points, but Dallas won the third quarter 29-22 and the fourth 31-22 to turn the finish into a one-possession game. The Mavericks ran off 10 straight points in the fourth to cut the lead to 94-92, tied the game at 100, and kept answering every Spurs basket down the stretch.

Kyrie Irving led Dallas with 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Naji Marshall scored 22 and P.J. Washington added 21, and it was Marshall who tied the game at 111 with a three-pointer off a Cooper Flagg pass with 1:41 to play, seconds after a Wembanyama tip-in had put San Antonio ahead 111-108. Wembanyama then settled it himself: fouled by Washington in the final minute, he missed the first free throw and made the second with 24 seconds left for the 112-111 margin, and the Spurs defence held on the last possession. He had tweaked his right ankle during the fourth quarter, received no medical attention on the bench, and returned for the closing plays. Dylan Harper added 21 points for San Antonio.

The win is San Antonio’s sixth straight after an 0-2 start, moving the Spurs to 6-2, while Dallas falls to 4-4. It was the second meeting between the Texas rivals this season, after San Antonio won 122-106 in Dallas on October 24 with Wembanyama held to 23 points. This time there was no holding him. A career-high 52 points, a career-high 24 rebounds, a first half no player in the play-by-play era had ever produced, and a stat line matched once in the recorded history of the league, by Bob McAdoo in 1974: Wednesday night in San Antonio was the finest performance of Victor Wembanyama’s career, and one of the most complete games the NBA has ever seen.