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Victor Wembanyama delivered a frightening reminder of his dominance on Tuesday night, dismantling the Los Angeles Lakers in a performance that left head coach JJ Redick openly acknowledging the challenges of containing the San Antonio Spurs superstar.
Wembanyama exploded for 40 points, including 37 in the first half before he was sent to the bench.
While the Lakers had managed to limit Wembanyama in previous meetings this season, Redick admitted their defensive game plan simply fell apart this time.
“Yeah, I mean we’ve done a good job historically. He’s had good games. Again, I’m not saying like we’ve shut him down, but we’ve limited him with our coverages against him. We just didn’t execute those,” Redick said after the game. “And he was very aggressive, as aggressive to start a game as I’ve seen him both in attacking the basket and in shooting without hesitation from three.
“[He] just really put his imprint on the game in that first half. And with the guys we had out there, it was hard to create shots at the rim. I think we took five; we were 2-for-5 at the rim in the first half. Just not a lot of rim attempts for us. They’re one of the best, if not the best, at protecting the rim. But [we] just weren’t able to generate that. We scored whatever it was, 55, but had 14 non-paint twos. I kind of figured that there’s gonna be some of that tonight. But to me, it was the defense.”
Beyond the stat line, Redick made it clear Wembanyama’s impact stretches far deeper than numbers alone, highlighting the defensive fear factor the young star already commands across the league.
“Yeah, I don’t really think about that,” Redick added. “But yeah, I know right now, we’ve gotta contend with him. He’s one of the five best players in the world. He’s put that stamp on himself, and it’s more than, to me, it’s more than counting stats with him because there’s such an avoidance of him defensively. And there’s an awareness you have to have from him defensively.
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