Wembanyama has a triple-double with blocked shots

TORONTO: Victor Wembanyama has his second triple-double — and his first with blocks.

The San Antonio rookie blocked a shot by Toronto’s Gradey Dick with 6:32 left in the fourth quarter on Monday (Tuesday in Manila), giving him the NBA’s first triple-double with blocked shots as one of the categories in more than three years.

Wembanyama has a triple-double with blocked shots

To that point, Wembanyama had 27 points, 14 rebounds and five assists as well — all in just 29 minutes. He entered Monday as the NBA’s leader in blocked shots this season.

It was the first triple-double with blocks since Clint Capela had 13 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks for Atlanta against Minnesota on January 22, 2021. That had also been the last time anyone in the NBA blocked 10 shots in a game.

Hakeem Olajuwon has the most such triple-doubles — with blocks — since the stat started being officially recorded in the NBA. He did it 11 times, one more than Dikembe Mutombo and two more than Spurs Hall of Famer David Robinson.

Robinson had nine such triple-doubles — one of them being a quadruple-double. The only other Spurs player to have a triple-double with blocks was with blocks was Artis Gilmore, his lone one coming in the 1984-85 season.

Wembanyama was the No. 1 pick in last year’s NBA draft. He will go to his first All-Star weekend later this week in Indianapolis, set to participate in the Rising Stars game on Friday night and the Skills Competition on Saturday night.

The other triple-double for Wembanyama this season was January 10 against Detroit. He had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists — but no blocks that night.

Bucks 112, Nuggets 95

In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 36 points, 18 rebounds and five assists as the Milwaukee Bucks showcased their improved defense by trouncing the Denver Nuggets.

After losing five of their first six games under new head coach Doc Rivers — including a 113-107 defeat at Denver in his debut with Milwaukee — the Bucks have won two straight by a combined margin of 53 points.

This blowout of the reigning NBA champions followed Milwaukee’s most lopsided victory of the season, a 120-84 rout of the Charlotte Hornets. This marks the first time this season the Bucks have allowed fewer than 100 points in back-to-back games.

Nikola Jokic had 29 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Nuggets, but he didn’t get nearly enough help on a night when two teammates left with injuries. Aaron Gordon scored 14 and Michael Porter Jr. had 11.

76ers 123, Cavaliers 121

In Cleveland, Buddy Hield scored 24 points in his third game with Philadelphia, Kelly Oubre Jr. also had 24 and the 76ers ended Cleveland’s nine-game winning streak.

The Cavs nearly rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final 1:25. They had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Darius Garland missed a 3-pointer from the right corner.

All-Star Tyrese Maxey added 22 points for the Sixers. Maxey split a pair of free throws with 6.9 seconds left, giving Cleveland a last possession to extend its longest winning streak since it had LeBron James in 2018.

Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs with 36 points.

Bulls 136, Hawks 126

In Atlanta, Ayo Dosunmu had a career-high 29 points and seven assists as Chicago scored a season-best point total.

DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points and Nikola Vucevic added 24 points and 11 rebounds. Coby White added 20 points and seven assists.

Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter led the Hawks off the bench. Bogdanovic had 28 points and Hunter 23. Trae Young had 19 points, including 2-for-10 shooting from 3-point range.

The win kept Chicago two games in front of the Hawks for the No. 9 seed in the East. The Bulls have won both games against Atlanta this season.

Hornets 111, Pacers 102

In Charlotte, Miles Bridges had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Charlotte won its second straight game since adding five new players via trade.

Newcomers Grant Williams, Seth Curry, Tre Mann and Vasilije Micic added an offensive spark for the Hornets, who finished with 27 assists. Williams led the way with 21 points and Curry added 18 off the bench. Mann got the start and finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Myles Turner had 22 points and Aaron Nesmith scored 21 for the Pacers. Tyrese Haliburton chipped in 13 points and 12 rebounds while playing 34 minutes in the loss.