With 9:13 left Monday night, Mitch Johnson finally gave Phoenix a break: he took Victor Wembanyama out. San Antonio led by 34. Its 7-foot-4 center had already delivered 40 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks in 25 minutes and 21 seconds.
Wembanyama missed four shots all night, finishing 15-for-19 with one turnover. The Spurs beat the Suns 122-96 at Mortgage Matchup Center on November 9, collecting their ninth straight victory. Keeping him out there to chase a triple-double would have been lousy coaching. Phoenix had supplied enough evidence.
San Antonio bullied the glass 55-35 and handed out 30 assists to Phoenix’s 21. Inside, the Spurs won the paint scoring 62-48. They took the better shots, recovered more misses and kept passing until somebody found an opening. The Suns spent most of the night trying to survive those advantages simultaneously.
A 21-2 Run Turned Phoenix’s Problems Into a Rout
Wembanyama scored 14 in the opening quarter, when San Antonio built a 31-25 lead. His early catches presented Oso Ighodaro with an ugly assignment: protect the basket while respecting a center who could shoot beyond the arc. Retreating conceded the jumper. Stepping out left room behind him for lobs and cuts. The Spurs kept throwing the ball above Phoenix’s reach. Wembanyama caught alley-oops, worked along the baseline and followed his own missed bank shot with a two-handed dunk. San Antonio’s 21-2 run helped produce a 61-46 halftime lead. By the break, he had 22 points and five blocks.
The cruelty came from the range of the assignment. A big could survive one lob by getting his body underneath Wembanyama early. The next trip might demand that same defender chase him away from the basket, turn his hips and defend a dribble. Phoenix never found a comfortable starting position.
Two Blocks in Five Seconds Closed the Lane
With 8:18 remaining in the second quarter, Wembanyama rejected Ighodaro’s cutting layup. Dillon Brooks grabbed the rebound and tried a putback five seconds later. Wembanyama blocked that, too. The second rejection had the cold efficiency of a repo man coming back for the spare keys.
Brooks attacked after the first contest, when a shot blocker ordinarily needs time to recover. Wembanyama reached the follow-up anyway. Harper collected the defensive rebound, ending a possession that had offered Phoenix two chances at close range. The Suns could get the ball near the rim; finishing there demanded another calculation. Those stops also gave San Antonio’s guards chances to run before Phoenix could organize its defense. Even the possessions that ended without a block carried his threat. “If he’s not blocking shots, he’s altering them,” Booker said afterward. That distinction helps explain why counting rejections alone undersells the job.
Harper and Fox Punished Phoenix’s Attention
Dylan Harper supplied the third-quarter punishment. He scored 14 of his 17 points in the period, finishing the night 7-for-10. Phoenix could spend a possession worrying about Wembanyama and still surrender a clean shot to a guard perfectly happy to create his own. Twice, Harper stepped backward into jumpers. Another attack ended with a floater from the left baseline. San Antonio increasingly cleared space for him to work, letting him choose his scoring spots instead of forcing every attack through its center. Those possessions required Phoenix to guard Harper’s footwork and touch, too.
Wembanyama gave Harper a blunt postgame endorsement: “When he gets to his game, when he gets to the spot, he’s unstoppable,” he told NBA TV. San Antonio entered the fourth ahead 93-68. Harper had helped make the remaining minutes disposable.
De’Aaron Fox supplied 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Early in the third, Wembanyama found him near the basket, and Fox whipped a behind-the-back pass to Julian Champagnie in the corner for three. Phoenix’s defenders turned toward the ball, then had to turn again. The pass bought Champagnie time to catch and shoot.
Castle and Champagnie Did the Work Around the Star
Stephon Castle refused to make his shooting trouble everybody else’s problem. He went 2-for-10 but collected eight rebounds and seven assists. That deserves more respect than another 20-point night assembled after a game has stopped being competitive. San Antonio could keep him involved because he kept finding useful work.
One give-and-go captured it. Castle passed up a contested corner three and fed Wembanyama nearby. Three defenders turned their attention toward the center, and Castle cut into the space they abandoned. Wembanyama immediately bounced the ball back for a one-handed dunk.
Champagnie started for injured Devin Vassell and contributed 11 points, including three threes. His catch-and-shoot three off Fox’s pass showed how San Antonio could move help defenders out of position without holding the ball. The Spurs committed only nine turnovers while making 46 field goals. Their passing demanded decisions from Phoenix without repeatedly giving possessions away.
Booker’s Scoring Could Not Repair the Damage
Devin Booker scored 32 on 10-for-17 shooting, including three makes in five attempts from deep. He repeatedly found his jumper despite Castle’s attention. Phoenix received an efficient scoring night from its best player and still never solved the larger problem around him. The Suns finished 9-for-26 from three, or 34.6%. Brooks went 1-for-2 and Jalen Green 0-for-1 beyond the arc; together, they shot 5-for-22 overall. Their worst damage came closer to the basket, where they combined to miss 15 of 19 attempts. Phoenix shot 39.3% overall, and only Khaman Maluach joined Booker in double figures with 11.
The loss dropped Phoenix to 3-6 heading into Tuesday’s home game against the Clippers. Booker delivered a solo shooting exhibition. His teammates could neither match San Antonio’s work on the glass nor make enough shots around him to keep the game alive.
Nine Straight Wins Carry San Antonio Into Chicago
San Antonio has answered an 0-2 start with a 9-2 record and a 5-0 road mark. Victories at Portland’s Moda Center and Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center preceded the win in Phoenix. Across the streak’s first eight games, the Spurs ranked top-three in both offense and defense. Six of those eight wins came against Dallas, Sacramento and Utah, a schedule that demands some restraint around championship predictions.
Wembanyama also joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and David Robinson as the only players with multiple 40-point, 10-rebound, eight-block games since blocks became official in 1973-74. His first came at home against Dallas on November 4: 52 points, 24 rebounds and eight blocks in a 112-111 win. Five nights after that one-point escape, he demolished Phoenix early enough to take a seat.
George Gervin supplied a familiar reference for Wembanyama’s finger-roll touch. The comparison gets harder when that same center brings the ball upcourt, changes direction and drives past Maluach for a layup. Phoenix’s young center had to defend a ballhandler with a center’s reach. No conventional scouting label makes that assignment sound reasonable. San Antonio visits Chicago on Wednesday, November 11, chasing a tenth straight win. “It feels like where I want to be,” Wembanyama said after Phoenix. That should bother the Bulls. He talked about Monday as though he had finally reached his normal working speed.
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FAQs
How many points did Victor Wembanyama score against Phoenix?
He scored 40 points in San Antonio’s 122-96 win on November 9, 2026.
How close did Wembanyama come to a triple-double?
He finished with 11 rebounds and nine blocks alongside his 40 points. One more block would have completed the triple-double.
Why did Wembanyama play only 25 minutes?
Mitch Johnson took him out with 9:13 left in the fourth quarter and San Antonio leading by 34 points.
How did Dylan Harper help the Spurs beat the Suns?
Harper scored 14 of his 17 points in the third quarter. His scoring helped San Antonio build a 93-68 lead entering the fourth.
Who do the Spurs play next?
San Antonio visits the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, seeking its tenth straight win.
