Julian Champagnie rattled in 11 three-pointers and a wounded Victor Wembanyama scored 31 points as the San Antonio Spurs came from behind to defeat the New York Knicks 134-132.
But Wembanyama brushed off concerns about his fitness after suffering a left knee injury that looked like it could’ve been serious.
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San Antonio, beaten by the Knicks in the NBA Cup final two weeks ago, avenged that loss in sensational fashion on Thursday (all times AEDT) after clawing their way back from a 19-point second quarter deficit to score a superb win.
French prodigy Wembanyama was instrumental in the victory, leading a determined fightback that included 31 points and 13 rebounds before he exited with a leg injury early in the fourth quarter.
Wembanyama later returned to sit on the bench and celebrated with teammates as the Spurs closed out a roller coaster victory that sees them improve to 24-9 and remain second in the Western Conference.
While Wembanyama played a crucial role in the comeback win, Champagnie provided the offensive spark, unleashing an incredible three-point barrage to finishing with 36 points.
Champagnie’s three-point blitz included four threes in the fourth quarter as San Antonio drew level before pulling clear.
“It feels great man — just go out there and do my job,” Champagnie said afterwards.
“That’s all I can do … I was just trying to shoot the basketball.”
A crowd of 18,602 at San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center had been subdued earlier in the fourth quarter when
Wembanyama hobbled off the court following an awkward landing from a rebound.
Speaking post-match, Wembanyama said he had suffered a left knee hyperextension which would require further examination, but revealed he felt confident of making a quick recovery.
“My body’s feeling good, just sore,” Wembanyama said. “I’m very confident, optimistic.”
Wembanyama said he had even tried to re-enter the game in the fourth quarter: “I was this close to coming back into the game but they had to hold me back.
“It was just a hyperextension. It should be minimal, whatever. We’ve got to do everything tomorrow just to check that everything’s okay.”
Wembanyama added that he hoped to be available for San Antonio’s next game on Saturday.
“I expect to be back next game — I don’t know that (the team) expects,” he said.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks scoring with 29 points, with Karl-Anthony Towns finishing with 20.
ELSEWHERE …
The Milwaukee Bucks suffered a tough loss to the lowly-ranked Washington Wizards 114-113 after a dire Bucks sequence in the final 10 seconds led to a CJ McCollum game-winner.
With Milwaukee up 113-112, Kevin Porter Jr missed a driving layup as the shot clock expired with 10 seconds left, before Giannis Antetokounmpo’s putback shot was blocked by Alex Sarr.
McCollum ran the floor and nailed a fadeaway jumper with one second to secure the win for the Wizards.
The Wizards won their fifth game from their last nine to improve to 8-24 after holding the worst record in the NBA for much of the season.
Antetokounmpo finished with 33 points and 15 rebounds as the Bucks fell to 14-20 overall.
“We just gotta not go back and forth with them. The more you make them believe, the more they stay in the game. So, this is on us,” Antetokounmpo said post-match, per the Athletic’s Eric Nehm.
“We won two games in a row, sometimes our focus wasn’t there. Started the game by doing the right thing. I think we went a little bit away from that. Just gotta do a better job, kust keep n staying for 48 minutes.
“It’s gotta be a team effort, win or lose. We gotta do it together.”
Doc Rivers said: “Listen, I don’t care about the end of the game. We deserved to lose the game. We didn’t play hard enough. We didn’t play well enough together.”
In Toronto, a depleted Nuggets edged the Raptors 106-103 after a Brandon Ingram triple on the buzzer that could’ve forced overtime was denied a wild ending.
Bruce Brown missed two free throws with 2.7 seconds left to give Toronto a chance to extend the game to an extra period with a three.
Ingram appeared to do just that after nailing an insane fadeaway shot from beyond the arc as the buzzer sounded and Raptors fans exploded with excitement.
But a referee review found that the ball in fact hadn’t left Ingram’s fingertips when the buzzer went to award the victory to Denver.
Peyton Watson (24 points) and Jamal Murray (21 points) led the severely undermanned Nuggets, missing four starters including Nikola Jokic, while Jonas Valanciunas (calf) left the game early to add to their woes.
Ingram led all scorers with 30 including shooting 5-of-7 from three.
In other games on Thursday, the Golden State Warriors maintained their impressive recent run of form with a 132-125 road win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Stephen Curry, playing in front of his hometown fans, led the Golden State scoring with 26 points including five three-pointers as the Warriors bagged their fifth victory from their last six games to improve to 18-16 in the Western Conference standings.
Jimmy Butler and Brandin Podziemski backed Curry with 19 points apiece.
Curry, who had been serenaded with chants of “MVP” during a road game in Brooklyn on Wednesday, was given a warm reception by a record Charlotte crowd of 19.685 fans.
“It never ceases to amaze me the support he has everywhere,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Curry.
“It makes sense given who he is, what he’s accomplished, what kind of human being he is … It’s a sign of how much Steph impacts people; there’s something magical about him.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 124-95 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 30 points.
In other results, the Atlanta Hawks thumped the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-102 thanks to a 34-point display from Jalen Johnson in Kristaps Porzingis’ return after missing the last 10 games with an illness.
Dyson Daniels (11 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, two steals, two blocks) filled the box score and flirted with a triple-double as Atlanta snapped a seven-game losing streak.
while the Orlando Magic squeezed past the Indiana Pacers 112-110 after 29 points from Paolo Banchero.
In Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell outdueled Devin Booker to lead the Cavaliers to a 129-113 blowout over the Phoenix Suns. Mitchell scored 34 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists while Booker finished with 32 points in a losing effort.
ALL RESULTS
Warriors 132 Hornets 125
Timberwolves 102 Hawks 126
Magic 112 Pacers 110
Suns 113 Cavaliers 129
Pelicans 118 Bulls 134
Knicks 132 Spurs 134
Nuggets 106 Raptors 103
Wizards 114 Bucks 113
Trail Blazers 95 Thunder 124