An historic line, botched foul call, and a blowout battle for Western Conference supremacy highlights today's edition of The Morning Dunk where we recap all of the prior night's NBA action.
Wembanyama terrorizes toronto with dominant numbers
It didn't take the No. 1 overall pick from the 2023 draft very long to put up numbers not seen in many a moon on Monday.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds, 10 blocks, five assists, two steals, and two made 3-pointers in 29 minutes of action as the San Antonio Spurs cruised to a convincing 122-99 victory over the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.
The line was historic for many reasons, as the Frenchman joins Mark Eaton, David Robinson, and Ralph Sampson as the only rookies to ever register a triple-double with blocks, with Wembanyama being the youngest by far of that group. It was also the NBA's first such triple-double since Clint Capela notched one in 2021.
With five assists, as well, Wembanyama joins Robinson, Sampson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the fifth player to record at least 25 points, 10 boards, 10 blocks, and five dimes in a single game.
Wemby was elite on both ends and dropped a TRIPLE-DOUBLE in the Spurs' win against the Raptors 🌟
— NBA (@NBA) February 13, 2024
27 PTS
14 REB
10 BLK
This is the first triple-double INCLUSIVE of blocks since 01/22/21 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Xy57UqNsA9
San Antonio entered as the 5.5-point underdogs against Toronto and covered the spread for just the second time in its last eight outings.
Brunson Foul (Or Was It?) Costs Knicks Vs. Rockets
A controversial foul call cost the New York Knicks dearly at the Toyota Center.
Facing the Houston Rockets on the road and with the score locked at 103 apiece, Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson ran out to contest a last-second 3-point attempt by Aaron Holiday after the ball was knocked his way and was whistled for a foul.
Holiday made the first two free throws and missed the third intentionally to seal a 105-103 win for the Rockets.
Jalen Brunson was called for a foul on this play 👀
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 13, 2024
Rockets win off free throws 😳 pic.twitter.com/Pn7hZR43lU
Crew chief Ed Malloy said in live action after the game that the officials believed "the lower body contact was illegal contact," but later changed his tune upon further review to suggest the contact was "incidental and marginal to the shot attempt and shouldn't have been called," per ESPN.
New York has lost three game in a row SU and is just 1-5 ATS in six games.
Timberwolves Make Statement Against Clippers
The Minnesota Timberwolves further proved on Monday night their No. 1 seeding in the Western Conference is no accident.
For the second time this season, Minnesota made an impactful statement by defeating the red-hot Los Angeles Clippers, this time by 21 points in a 121-100 blowout at Crypto.com Arena.
Minnesota won for the 10th time this season after trailing at halftime, which is the second-most across the Association. Karl-Anthony Towns led all scorers with 24 points, while center Rudy Gobert contributed a double-double of 17 points and 10 boards with four rejections.
PUT THAT MAN ON A POSTER
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 13, 2024
😱😱😱 https://t.co/VEvokYaOFq pic.twitter.com/pwIF9uE4Ru
The Timberwolves now hold a 1.5-game lead over the Clippers in the West after creating further separation between them, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Denver Nuggets.
