Wembanyama outshines Durant as Spurs take control of the West

The AT&T Center hosted one of Texas’s classic clashes, as the San Antonio Spurs faced the Houston Rockets. Two franchises built to chase a ring, though by very different routes: the first betting long-term on the transcendent talent of Victor Wembanyama, and the second taking a fast-track gamble—right or wrong, time will tell—by handing 37-year-old Kevin Durant the keys to the franchise. The Rockets rewarded him with a two-year, $90 million extension (pushing his career NBA earnings to $600 million) that will keep him active until nearly age 40. An anomaly, yes, but also another sign of the remarkable longevity defining this generation’s twilight, led, of course, by LeBron James.

Durant’s final adventure

It was a battle of contrasts, the intrigue fueled by a duel between two players from entirely different eras: the 7-foot-4 Frenchman approaching his 22nd birthday (January 5) and the veteran scoring machine hardened by a thousand battles. Durant remains capable of doing whatever he wants on the court—and of controlling everything around him, often dictating the fate of the teams he joins. Yet he’s never seemed truly comfortable, not even in San Francisco, where he won two titles and two Finals MVPs with the Warriors but, somehow, never found happiness. Now, he’s embarking on what looks like his final major adventure with a Rockets team whose success may depend entirely on how much he has left to give.

Spurs, Rockets, Rockets, Spurs… The ball went up with both teams at 5–2, chasing the Lakers and heading in opposite directions: San Antonio had dropped two straight after a 5–0 start, while Houston came in riding a five-game win streak that erased memories of its rough opening. It all played out under the NBA Cup spotlight. In the end, the Spurs prevailed 121–110, led by Wembanyama, who refused to be intimidated by the Hall of Famer in front of him or the Rockets’ momentum. San Antonio controlled most of the game, sealed it with a 35–28 final quarter, and never looked back.

The Spurs’ rise is no accident

The French giant delivered a complete performance after a relatively quiet showing against the Lakers: 22 points (8-for-16 shooting, 6-for-6 from the line), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, and 2 blocks. He outplayed Durant, who continues to look uneasy in Ime Udoka’s defense-first system that lacks much offensive flow—Durant scored 24 but committed 8 turnovers. Alperen Sengun (25 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) kept Houston in it, while all five Spurs starters scored in double figures, highlighted by Stephon Castle’s 14 points and 13 assists. The game was sloppy at times (43 total turnovers) but full of energy. And it proved that the Spurs’ rise is no accident. They’re here to stay.

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San Antonio Spurs

Stats

40 Harrison Barnes
30 Julian Champagnie
1 Victor Wembanyama
5 Stephon Castle
24 Devin Vassell
18 Bismack Biyombo
11 Carter Bryant
3 Keldon Johnson
25 David Jones-Garcia
0 Jordan McLaughlin
8 Kelly Olynyk
10 Jeremy Sochan
43 Lindy Waters III
55 Harrison Ingram
27 Riley Minix

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
40 Harrison Barnes	38	24	5	1	4	2	3	2	0	2/2	2/2	6/9	0	4	0
30 Julian Champagnie	31	22	7	1	6	1	2	5	1	4/4	0/1	6/13	0	0	0
1 Victor Wembanyama	37	22	8	1	7	4	4	0	2	6/6	8/14	0/2	0	5	0
5 Stephon Castle	36	14	6	2	4	13	5	2	1	4/5	5/8	0/4	0	3	0
24 Devin Vassell	33	15	3	2	1	3	1	4	0	3/4	0/2	4/10	0	2	0
18 Bismack Biyombo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
11 Carter Bryant	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
3 Keldon Johnson	27	8	6	5	1	4	2	1	0	2/2	3/6	0/2	0	2	0
25 David Jones-Garcia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
0 Jordan McLaughlin	9	9	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	0/0	3/5	1/1	0	0	0
8 Kelly Olynyk	5	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	1/1	0/0	0	0	0
10 Jeremy Sochan	15	2	2	1	1	2	3	0	0	2/2	0/3	0/2	0	3	0
43 Lindy Waters III	6	3	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	1/2	0	0	0
55 Harrison Ingram	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
27 Riley Minix	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0

Houston Rockets

Stats

7 Kevin Durant
10 Jabari Smith Jr.
28 Alperen Sengün
20 Josh Okogie
1 Amen Thompson
12 Steven Adams
30 Clint Capela
4 JD Davison
17 Tari Eason
32 Jeff Green
0 Aaron Holiday
15 Reed Sheppard
8 Jae'Sean Tate
27 Isaiah Crawford
0 Kevon Harris

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
7 Kevin Durant	36	24	1	0	1	2	8	1	0	7/7	7/16	1/2	0	5	0
10 Jabari Smith Jr.	26	5	8	2	6	2	1	0	1	1/2	2/5	0/1	0	1	0
28 Alperen Sengün	35	25	9	3	6	8	3	1	1	4/5	9/16	1/6	0	5	0
20 Josh Okogie	24	12	3	2	1	0	3	5	0	2/2	2/4	2/3	0	5	0
1 Amen Thompson	38	14	7	3	4	3	3	1	1	4/4	2/8	2/4	0	3	0
12 Steven Adams	20	3	8	3	5	1	0	1	0	1/1	1/4	0/0	0	2	0
30 Clint Capela	6	0	3	3	0	1	0	0	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
4 JD Davison	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
17 Tari Eason	24	11	2	1	1	2	4	2	0	0/0	1/2	3/4	0	0	0
32 Jeff Green	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
0 Aaron Holiday	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
15 Reed Sheppard	26	16	0	0	0	6	1	1	0	0/0	2/3	4/7	0	3	0
8 Jae'Sean Tate	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
27 Isaiah Crawford	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
0 Kevon Harris	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0