Victor Wembanyama leaves Spurs-76ers game with left rib contusion after hurting shoulder

SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama was ruled out for the second half of the San Antonio Spurs’ matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers after suffering a left rib contusion.

Wembanyama hit the deck at the 10:47 mark of the second quarter and sat on the floor holding his ribs in pain before eventually getting up and walking the injury off. He checked out and went back to the locker room, eventually returning to the floor to cross the 15-minute threshold.

Because Wembanyama played 16 minutes, this will count as his second and final “near-miss” exemption to the 65-game rule that qualifies him for the NBA’s regular-season awards. Wembanyama is the consensus favorite for Defensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-NBA, as well as a contender for MVP. Wembanyama needs to play in one of the Spurs’ final three games this week to reach the 65-game mark. Though he is still at 63 games for the regular season, the NBA Cup Final loss to the New York Knicks counts toward the 65-game total, even if it doesn’t show in his official stats.

He had 17 points in 16 minutes in Monday’s first half, putting an early end to an exciting battle against 2022-23 MVP Joel Embiid. The Sixers star had 27 points and nine rebounds as of halfway through the third quarter, though the Spurs remained in the lead.

Before the game, Wembanyama asked his coaches to defend him as physically as they could during his pregame warmup to prepare for the beating he would take guarding Embiid.

Wembanyama was averaging 38.7 points in his prior three games and appeared to be well on his way toward another big scoring night. Since the beginning of March, Wembanyama is averaging 28.1 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.8 blocks in 17 games.

This story will be updated.