The San Antonio Spurs defeated the New York Knicks 134-132 despite an injury scare to Victor Wembanyama on Wednesday night in a rematch of the NBA Cup final.
Julian Champagnie led the Spurs with a career-high 36 points, while Wembanyama finished with 31 points and 13 rebounds in 24 minutes before limping off the court with an apparent leg injury with under 11 minutes remaining.
The French superstar returned to the bench in warmups in the final minutes.
Wembanyama hobbled off the court unassisted with 10:32 remaining, heading to the locker room after injuring his left leg by jumping to get an offensive rebound over Towns and lost possession when he landed.
On the other hand, Knicks star Jalen Brunson dropped 29 points, including a three-pointer at the close of regulation after stripping Keldon Johnson of possession as he celebrated with the Spurs bench.
Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordan Clarkson contributed 20 each for New York, but fell short of extending their three-game winning streak.
The Knicks outscored San Antonio 28-27 in the second quarter, but it would have been much worse without Wembanyama.
The 7-foot-4 center brought the sell-out crowd to its feet with a one-handed slam off an alley-oop pass from Castle that cut the Knicks’ lead to 54-50.
New York responded with a 17-2 run following a timeout and the big man’s exit, including 14 straight points to cap the surge.
Champagnie hit back-to-back three-pointers, capping a 16-2 run that tied the game at 86 midway through the third.
Wembanyama made his 300th career 3-pointer, becoming the fastest to do so among 7-footers and accomplishing the feat in 138 games.
The Knicks will host the Kings on Thursday, while the Spurs are on the road at Indiana on Friday.
