Victor Wembanyama struggles in Madison Square Garden debut as Knicks rout Spurs

NEW YORK Victor Wembanyama headed into his Madison Square Garden debut as the NBAs next big star. He is still that, but Wemby also left the worlds greatest arena in a bit of a shooting slump.

NEW YORK – Victor Wembanyama headed into his Madison Square Garden debut as the NBA’s next big star. He is still that, but “Wemby” also left the world’s greatest arena in a bit of a shooting slump.

Wembanyama, the 19-year-old French rookie sensation for the San Antonio Spurs, played a mostly sluggish game in a 126-105 blowout loss Wednesday to the New York Knicks.

Advertisement

The 7-foot-4 Parisian and No. 1 draft pick finished with 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists, one block and three turnovers in his first 30 minutes at the Garden, the venue his legendary coach Gregg Popovich said is the “best place to play in the world.”

Wembanyama missed his first eight shots and tossed two airballs into the New York night. He clawed his own boxscore back to respectability with eight points and three field goals in a fourth quarter that began with the Spurs down by 27 points. He was 6-for-6 at the foul line for the game.

That makes two consecutive contests in which he’s shot poorly from the field — Wembanyama was 3-for-12 Monday in a loss against the Indiana Pacers. The Spurs, meanwhile, have lost three in a row after winning three of their first five games.

“It’s no big deal — we’re learning,” Wembanyama said. “We as a young team and any team, really, we’re going to go through losing streaks (at) some (point) during (the) season, through tough times. The most important is how we bounce back.”

The Knicks, who also ruined James Harden’s debut with the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, were led by 25 points from Jalen Brunson. Teammates Julius Randle and R.J. Barrett added 23 points apiece. They were not the main attraction in either of their home games this week.

The Harden debut was a fluke, insofar as the timing of the trade, and what the Clippers’ schedule looked like, made it so his joining of Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook and Paul George would happen at the Garden. The Knicks didn’t blink.

Wembanyama’s first game at the Garden was always going to be a big deal. Top draft picks, from Paris, who are that tall and can do the things he does on the court (he entered play Wednesday averaging more than 19 points and eight rebounds) don’t come around often.

Advertisement

“He’s lived up to the billing,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game, in comments that were not a harbinger of things to come. “There was a lot of hype, a lot of expectations, and the way he’s handled himself, the way he’s performed, credit to him. He’s been very, very impressive.”

How visiting players, especially stars and future stars, perform at the Garden is almost like a separate statistical category.

For instance, LeBron James, the player Wembanyama is often compared to as far as the hype surrounding him as a teenage rookie, has dominated nearly every game he’s played in New York. He has more than earned the respect of what would otherwise be a tough, adversarial crowd and is routinely cheered even though his teams almost always defeat the Knicks and he three times shunned them in free agency.

Greats such as Wilt Chamberlain (43 points, 28 rebounds), Oscar Robertson (28 points, 11 rebounds) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (36 points, 27 boards) enjoyed epic Garden debuts. Magic Johnson posted a triple-double in his first game here. James scored 22 in a win.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Memorable NBA debuts at MSG before Wemby's first game at venue

Patrons of the “mecca of basketball” welcomed Wembanyama warmly, as though they expected him to, like James, live up to the enormous hype. They drowned out the public-address announcer Michael T. Walczewski with rousing cheers during Wembanyama’s pregame introduction. That was about as far as the warm and fuzzies went.

New York’s Mitchell Robinson beat him on the opening jump ball, a rarity, and Wembanyama proceeded to take — and miss — the first three shots of the game for the Spurs. The Knicks scored the first 13 points of the game, led by as many as 21 in the first half and were never challenged.

When Wembanyama finally connected on his first field goal with 3:18 left in the third quarter and San Antonio trailing by 29, the applause sounded more like a Bronx cheer of derision. At the foul line with 28.3 seconds left in the third, Wembanyama shot as “overrated” jeers rained down from the rafters.

Advertisement

“He’s a 19-year-old rookie who’s just learning about the NBA — of course, it’s a learning experience,” Popovich said.

Earlier Wednesday, after his first morning shootaround at the Garden, Wembanyama said the arena was “incredible,” albeit “not as big as I expected.” And after his relatively tough night, he gracefully said, “I think, no matter how many times I play here, it will always be special.”

Popovich, the NBA’s all-time winningest coach, said he directed all of his young players to look up to the rafters, where championship teams and star players from decades past are honored.

“I walked past about six guys over here and four or five over here, and I said you guys are now in the best arena to play basketball you’ll ever be in,” Popovich said, adding: “Some things, you know, words don’t describe it. You just walk in there, the lights go on and it’s a different ballgame. You get a little bit of electricity going through your back.”

On the eve of his MSG debut, Wembanyama and Tom Brady went to dinner in the city as guests of billionaire and Fanatics co-owner Michael Rubin, who counts both famous athletes as clients.

“I really liked the vibe from him, very humble and interesting, but also interested (in other people),” Wembanyama said of the all-time NFL great. “It feels really good to see successful but happy people. He just looks like he is happy with the life he’s got, and he makes other people around happy.”

Wembanyama, a soccer fan, said he knows “a little bit” about American football and is learning “more and more.”

“I know about Tom Brady,” he said.

Now, Wembanyama also knows what it’s like to play — and struggle — at the Garden.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

NBA lineup changes: Who's the same? Who's different? Are rotations here to stay?

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

NBA’s biggest surprises thus far: Emerging stars, disappointing starts and more

Required reading

(Photo: Brad Penner / USA Today)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57lGlrb21hZXxzfJFsZmppX2WFcMLInKuoql2ssq6uwKewmqWRYrivtcKkqmaroKq%2FtHnRnpqaqF8%3D

 Share!