"The guy who somewhat ludicrously shot 8.8 threes per game last season took only two last night, choosing instead to spend the bulk of his time setting himself up for post touches and facing up defenders at the elbow. It all added up to 40 points and 15 rebounds on 15-of-21 shooting in 30 minutes. And because this is Victor Wembanyama, the three blocks hardly need mentioning."
"One consequence of Wembanyama making a more concerted effort to get to the rim is that it puts his defenders under a new kind of pressure, and that pressure produces fouls. Wembanyama averaged just four trips to the free-throw line a game last season, but he got to the line 11 times last night. More than that, he singlehandedly neutralized the Mavericks' front court."
"All of this was punctuated by another collection of jump-scare highlights, the kind that arrive so suddenly and from such odd angles that they put a fright in the chest. There was a sprinting reverse alley-oop: A double clutch reverse dunk through contact: And this absolutely crazy step-back three, with the foul: We'll come back to that last highlight, but there was something else going in Wednesday night's game that might end up being much more meaningful going forward."
In the Spurs' season opener, Victor Wembanyama drastically reduced three-point attempts and focused on post touches and elbow face-ups, taking just two threes while finishing with 40 points and 15 rebounds on 15-of-21 shooting in 30 minutes. He also recorded multiple blocks and produced several athletic finishes, including a sprinting reverse alley-oop, a double-clutch dunk through contact, and a step-back three drawn with a foul. The increased emphasis on attacking the rim resulted in 11 free-throw attempts, up from an average of four last season. That rim-oriented approach neutralized Dallas's frontcourt and created significant matchup problems.
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