Wembanyama scores 52, sinks winner as Spurs edge Mavericks 112-111

Victor Wembanyama sank the winning free throw to finish with a career-high 52 points as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks 112-111 in an NBA game on Wednesday. He recorded 24 rebounds and eight blocks in the contest.

Wembanyama, who was the NBA's defensive player of the year last season, had a previous career-best of 50 points in 2024. The 22-year-old produced the 52-point display alongside 24 rebounds and eight blocks and became the first player in 52 years to record at least 50 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in a game; he also became the fifth player since 1982 to register at least 50 points and 20 rebounds.

He reached half-time with 29 points, 15 rebounds, five blocks and two steals as the Spurs led at the break, before San Antonio held off a second-half rally by Dallas that was led by 29 points from Kyrie Irving.

"I haven't been feeling great lately," said Wembanyama. "I've been sick for a while. "Today I felt like I got my legs back, so it should be more like this more often."

Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid led the Philadelphia 76ers to a 112-106 win over the Detroit Pistons as Brown scored 30 and Embiid added 26, with all five starters reaching double figures; LeBron James claimed a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. "It's too early to be talking about the Finals and things of that nature," said James. "We'll just continue to buy into what we want to do. We got a good team."

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings 116-103 as Luka Doncic scored a game-high 40 points to reach 308 for the season, becoming the first player to pass 300 in his first eight games of a season since Michael Jordan (303) in 1988-89; a fan was removed after throwing the ball at an official, which struck her as she was signalling a Lakers possession.

London-born OG Anunoby scored 18 points for the New York Knicks as the reigning champions recorded their biggest win of the season, beating the Chicago Bulls 135-105 to improve to 4-4.

San Antonio improved their record to 6-2 following the win, while the 76ers now have the NBA's best record at 8-1 after bringing in Brown and James in the off-season.