Victor Wembanyama Scores 40, San Antonio Spurs Overcome Jalen Brunson's 61 to Top New York Knicks in OT Thriller

Victor Wembanyama and Jalen Brunson put on a show as the San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks in overtime.

Mar 29, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1). / Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

The San Antonio Spurs were already one of eight teams eliminated from playoff contention headed into Friday's meeting with the New York Knicks, but having nothing to lose seems to be benefiting the youngest team in the league during one of the best stretches of their season.

San Antonio (18-56) overcame a career-high 61 points from Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson and picked up one of its most impressive wins of the season in a 130-126 overtime victory behind a career-high 40 points from Victor Wembanyama. The win marked the Spurs' first three-game winning streak of the season.

The Knicks (44-29) came into Friday as the No. 3 team in the Eastern Conference, but now slip to fourth behind the Cleveland Cavaliers with the loss. New York was allowing the second-fewest points per game, but coach Tom Thibodeau's defense couldn't stop Wembanyama. Along with his 40 points on 13 of 22 shooting, he finished with 20 rebounds, seven assists, one block and two steals.

Mar 29, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11). / Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

"These results, we wouldn't have gotten them at the start of the year, and we wouldn't have gotten them without you guys," Wembanyama told the crowd after the win. "70 games into the season, I still see this place packed every night."

The Spurs also got a big game from Devin Vassell (23 points, seven assists) while Keldon Johnson added 17 points off the bench. Tre Jones (13 points), Julian Champagnie (12 points) and Malaki Branham (10 points) all added double-digit scoring efforts as well.

New York guard Donte DiVincenzo, who won a National Championship with Brunson in San Antonio in 2018 while at Villanova, scored 20 points and had six rebounds while Knicks guard Josh Hart put together another all-around stat line with 12 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

The Spurs jumped out of the gates in a hurry and blindsided the Knicks with a 13-point lead near the end of the first quarter. Hot shooting and a steady dose of Wemby helped propel San Antonio to a 21-point lead before heading into halftime up 74-57. The Spurs went 10 of 20 from deep and 14 of 16 from the foul line in the first half while Wembanyama was already flirting with a triple-double at the break.

Unsurprisingly, the Knicks came out of the locker room with sights set on taking advantage of San Antonio's experience, but there was little the Spurs could do to stop Brunson. He scored 24 of New York's 34 points in the third quarter, though San Antonio still led 94-91 headed into the fourth.

New York finally took its first lead of the game at the 4:39 mark of the fourth quarter after a triple from DiVincenzo. The Spurs held strong despite New York's momentum and forced overtime tied at 121 after Wemby hit two free throws with 24 seconds left.

From here, the Spurs and Wembanyama showed how much they've grown this season. The star rookie had a key put-back tip and rolled in a dagger triple to beat the shot clock, icing the Knicks on a historical night for Brunson.

San Antonio will look to make it four wins in a row on Sunday at home against the Golden State Warriors.