Victor Wembanyama led the San Antonio Spurs to their 10th straight victory Wednesday, scoring 41 points for the second game in a row as they overcame the Golden State Warriors 127-113.
Fresh off setting the record for the fastest double-double in NBA history just two days earlier, the French phenom added 18 rebounds in a dominant wire-to-wire performance.
San Antonio has surged into serious title contention, winning 26 of its last 28 games. The Spurs sit second in the Western Conference, two wins behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, with six regular-season games left in the fight for the top seed.
Both Western powerhouses are favorites to claim this year’s NBA championship, with the playoffs starting in mid-April.
While the Thunder are the reigning NBA champions, the Spurs have not reached the playoffs since 2019.
Wembanyama laughed off the suggestion that a lack of experience would hurt them this spring.
"We don't have experience, right? Screw it," he told ESPN.
"We're not going to play any differently just because it is this way.
"We're still going to play 100 percent to try to win this championship."
The Spurs led throughout Wednesday's game in San Francisco, taking a commanding 70-49 halftime lead as Wembanyama managed a stunning 27 points and 13 rebounds in a first-half double-double.
San Antonio eased off slightly in the second half but never lost its double-digit lead against a Warriors side missing key players, including Stephen Curry.
Curry has not played since January but was seen on the court pregame Wednesday, raising hopes he can return as the Warriors face the long route to the playoffs via the play-ins.
The Boston Celtics tightened their grip on the second seed in the East and put pressure on conference-leading Detroit with a breezy 147-129 win over playoff hopefuls Miami Heat.
The Celtics got off to a blistering start, scoring 53 points in the first quarter, the second-most in NBA history, as star duo Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum dominated the night.
Brown scored 43 points, while Tatum finished with a triple-double, totaling 25 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists.
The Celtics have been revitalized since Tatum returned from a 10-month Achilles injury last month, and having the pair together on the court appears to pose a formidable postseason threat.
"Obviously a hell of a two-way player, he had a hot start, and he just kept it going," Tatum said of Brown after the game.
With the loss, Miami fell to 10th but remains just 2.5 games back from sixth place, a guaranteed postseason spot, in the remarkably tight Eastern Conference playoff race.
The door had been left open as sixth-place Toronto fell 123-115 to the Sacramento Kings.
They were leapfrogged by the Philadelphia 76ers, who eased past the Washington Wizards 153-131, with Paul George scoring 39 points.
The Orlando Magic saw their playoff hopes dented by the red-hot Atlanta Hawks, who secured their 17th win in 19 games with a 130-101 victory, strengthening their own postseason berth.
Third-place New York returned to winning ways with a 130-119 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
In the West, the Houston Rockets all but assured themselves of playoff basketball, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 119-113 to sit five wins clear of the Phoenix Suns, who have six games remaining.
