NBA: defenseless, Wembanyama's Spurs explode against New Orleans

Honors for Tony Parker, correction for Spurs. San Antonio paid tribute to its former French legend, a few months after his induction into the Hall of Fame. Big winners at Frost Bank Center, the Pelicans spoiled the party. Which Pelicans feasted on from long distance (22/42). Indecent. 29 points and 6/7 at three points for CJ McCollum, 26 points and 5/7 beyond the arc for Brandon Ingram. Unstoppable. After ending their streak of 18 straight defeats against the Lakers on Friday, the Texans never found a way to deprive the visitors of address. Seventh consecutive double-double for Victor Wembanyama, again aligned as a pivot, who did what he could. 17 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks for the Frenchman, with 4 assists and 1 interception as a bonus.

The back and forth at the start of the match (6-0, then 6-7) quickly gave way to a lonesome from the visitors, while the locals had almost 30% on shots, and less than 20% from distance. , at the start of the match. Ingram was enjoying himself: 11 points in the first quarter for the former Lakers player (16-33, then 20-33 at the end of the 1st QT). Aggressive in attack and dissuasive in defense, “Wemby” did what he could, but it would have taken more to thwart the advance of a team which was shooting 50% from long distance. He was also capable of missing an alley-oop... An example of the glaring lack of success of the Spurs, pushed back to -20 (38-58). Eye-catching, motivated, the Spurs fought like hell, with Wembanyama still important in defense, and with this increase (49-58, then 51-61 MT). Enough to reignite the suspense and attend the show in tribute to Tony Parker with serenity.

The rest of the evening, however, was not a party. Except for the Pels of course. Author of a 36-point score against the Lakers, Devin Vassell brought his team to -7 (54-61) but the basket began to slip away again under the Spurs' shots, including the easiest ones (56-73). The Pelicans, for their part, resumed their long-distance festival while managing to find Zion Williamson (69-93). Everything was going to hell and San Antonio conceded two more winning baskets in the last seconds of the third quarter (78-105). Butcher's shop. Mass was already said, despite a few banderillas signed Julian Champagnie (15 pts, 5/6 to 3 pts) just to limit the damage. Fifth victory in a row for “NOLA”, which counted up to 40 (110-146 final score).