Victor Wembanyama got a hostile introduction to the bright lights of New York.
The French prodigy and San Antonio Spurs struggled in a lopsided 126-105 loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Thursday (all times AEDT).
New York busted out of the gates with 33 points in the first term to assert dominance on their younger opponent.
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The Knicks led by as much as 30 at one stage during the third term to all but seal the result in an anti climax for Wembanyama’s highly-anticipated first game at the ‘Mecca of Basketball’.
New York fans at one stage went so far to brutally chant ‘overrated’ to the No. 1 pick when he shot a pair of free throws.
Wembanyama finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and a block, while Jeremy Sochan’s 16 points led the Spurs, who suffered their third-straight loss to fall to 3-5.
Julius Randle (23 points, 16 boards), Jalen Brusnon (25 points, six assists) and RJ Barrett (24 points, six assists) all led the way for the Knicks.
The win saw New York improve to 4-4.
GIANNIS EJECTED FOR TAUNTING … BUT BUCKS EDGE PISTONS
Despite Giannis Antetokounmpo being ejected for apparently taunting, the Milwaukee Bucks edged the Detroit Pistons behind 34 points from Damian Lillard.
Lillard scored 18 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and shot 12-of-13 from the line to lead a Bucks team that was also without Khris Middleton to its third consecutive victory.
Antetokounmpo’s night came to an abrupt end in the third quarter after he allegedly taunted Isaiaah Stewart after a dunking on the Pistons big, with the Bucks superstar receiving a second technical foul — and thus an automatic ejection.
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Detroit then came surging back into the contest including Stewart nailing consecutive threes late in the third followed by a Marcus Sasser triple to give the visitors the lead 88-87 with 2:13 left in the period.
The Pistons pushed ahead by as much as eight down the stretch of the third before Cameron Payne’s three-pointer reduced Milwaukee’s deficit to 95-90 heading into the last change.
Detroit got out to a nine-point advantage early in the fourth before Lillard took over, consistently getting to the free throw line in the last term to pace the Bucks.
Lillard made consecutive buckets inside the last two minutes and Brook Lopez buried a triple to give Milwaukee a 1179-115 lead with 40 seconds remaining that’d prove to be the match-winning shot.
Cade Cunningham (33 points, eight rebounds, eight assists) and Sasser (26 points, six boards) were Detroit’s best, while Bobby Portis scored 18 off the Milwaukee bench.
BROOKS, LEBRON RENEW RIVALRY
Dillon Brooks and LeBron James meet again.
The pair played off in Houston’s 128-94 thrashing of the Lakers for the first time since they feuded in last season’s playoffs — and things were clearly still a little testy.
It was clear there was no love lost between the two as they went back and forth, while at one stage, Brooks and James had an ice cold staredown during a dead play.
James finished with 18 points as the Anthony Davis-less Lakers dropped their third game in a row in a slow start to the season for Darvin Ham’s squad, while Rui Hachimura scored a team-high 24 off the bench.
Jalen Green (28 points, seven rebounds) and Alperen Sengun (19 points, seven boards) were the now 4-3 Rockets’ best.
As for Brooks, who had a season-low five points, was already stirring things up ahead of his first matchup against James since the 2023 post-season.
But James took a surprising stance on the former Grizzlies agitator — who signed a four-year, $86 million contract with the Rockets in the off-season — ahead of Thursday’s Lakers-Rockets clash.
After Brooks told reporters Wednesday that he was “ready to lock (James) up,” James heaped praise on his playoff rival.
“Every player that is rewarded with a contract is rewarded for a reason, and they’re worthy of the contract they get” James told reporters during Thursday’s shootaround.
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“I think in his case, he was worthy of the contract that he got. He’s put in the work since he came out of Oregon, and that’s what Houston found value in him and he’s here.”
After the Grizzlies won Game 2 over the Lakers in April to tie the series, Brooks, 27, called the 38-year-old James “old” and said, “I poke bears.”
Brooks then got ejected from the Lakers’ Game 3 win after hitting James below the belt, and Brooks later blamed the media for “making me a villain” by portraying the groin shot as intentional.
The Lakers went on to win the series, 4-2.
James says he has not thought about that series ahead of Wednesday’s game.
“Not too much,” James said. “Just the competition alone, it’s always great to go out to compete. He’s one of those guys who loves to compete, along with a lot of other guys in our league. But I don’t really dwell on the past too much.”
-This story was first published in The New York Post and reproduced with permission.
ALL CURRENT RESULTS
CELTICS 103 76ERS 106
JAZZ 118 PACERS 134
WIZARDS 132 HORNETS 116
SPURS 105 KNICKS 126
CLIPPERS 93 NETS 100
CAVALIERS 120 THUNDER 128
PELICANS 101 TIMBERWOLVES 122
PISTONS 118 BUCKS 120
LAKERS 94 ROCKETS 128
SUNS 116 BULLS 115
RAPTORS 127 MAVERICKS 116
HEAT 108 GRIZZLIES 102
WARRIORS – NUGGETS
BLAZERS – KINGS
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