After Victor Wembanyama authored the worst shooting game of his career on opening night, a 1-for-13 showing in a loss to the Thunder, I wrote that the Spurs' honeymoon was over. It was dramatic by design -- a play on the early-season, and in this case single-game, overreactions we always get at the start of every new campaign. 

But there was truth in it. Last year, everything the Spurs did was on house money. Winning 62 games. Eliminating the defending champion Thunder on the road in Game 7 of the conference finals. Holding the lead vs. the Knicks for 72% of total minutes played in the Finals. Wembanyama unanimously winning Defensive Player of the Year and finishing third in MVP voting. All prologue, no expectations. 

This year, the real story starts, and we knew the benefit of the doubt would be gone. When Wembanyama laid that opening-night egg, the chatter started. He was crowned too soon. He doesn't have a go-to shot or spot. After that game, Wembanyama had no need for the critics. He was his own biggest critic, lamenting his hesitancy and overthinking, saying he needed to "go back to playing the basketball I like."

"I got no reason to be hesitant, no reason to not be myself," Wembanyama said. "For me, it's as simple as that. I'm good when I have fun."

Victor Wembanyama after historic 52-point, 24-rebound night: 'It should be more like this, more often'

Robby Kalland

Suffice it to say, he's been having plenty of fun since. Over his last seven games, Wembanyama is averaging 31.4 points, 12.2 rebounds and 4.3 blocks on 52% shooting. After opening 0-2, San Antonio has won six straight, with the latest being Wednesday night's 112-111 thriller over the Mavericks, who erased a 19-point deficit to tie the game with under two minutes to play. 

In the end, Wembanyama was just too much. He scored the Spurs' final seven points and 11 of their last 13 and hit the game-winning free-throw. When it was all said and done, the box score read like something out of a video game: 52 points, 24 rebounds and eight blocks as he became the first player to hit those marks since Bob McAdoo more than a half century ago. 

Actually, that's selling Wembanyama short. McAdoo only had seven blocks in that 1974 game against the Celtics. Filter it for at least 50, 20 and eight blocks, and only Wilt Chamberlain has done it, and that was before blocks became an official stat. The dude had 29, 15 and five in the first half, for crying out loud. No player in the last 30 years has registered that halftime line. 

Wembanyama is also:

• The only player in history to have multiple games with at least 40 points and five blocks before the age of 23.
• The fourth player in history to record at least 200 points and 30 blocks through the first eight games in two consecutive seasons, joining Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Patrick Ewing.

OK, so Wembanyama is a beast. We all knew this. He's going to have a lot of historic-number games. But what's interesting about the anatomy of this one is where the production came from on the floor, which has quietly been the story of his season. 

Wemby dominating around the rim

Wembanyama's shot diet became one of the seminal stories of last year's postseason. He's a relatively random player on the offensive end, and there were stretches when his ability to dance on the perimeter and shoot from range was becoming too easy of a crutch. He's a fine shooter and has a capable handle; for his size, he's extraordinary. But when the listed 7-foot-4 guy who is probably closer to 7-foot-6 is camping out around the 3-point line, it's a win for the defense, particularly at scale. 

We saw both sides of this dynamic throughout the playoffs as Wembanyama waffled between a perimeter- and paint-based structure almost from game to game. We saw it against Minnesota in the second round. We saw it again against Oklahoma City in the conference finals when Wembanyama dominated Game 1 at the rim only to be literally pushed out to the perimeter in the following games by Isaiah Hartenstein. 

Over the first two games of the Finals, Wembanyama took more shots from outside the paint (22) than he did inside (20), a win for the Knicks, who went up 2-0. In Game 3, he flipped the script, taking 13 of his 18 shots from inside the paint as the Spurs won in a blowout. 

There won't always be a direct correlation between Wembanyama's shot diet and the Spurs' outcomes; they're going to win most of their games on sheer talent, and Wembanyama is going to pile up massive numbers for the same reason. But the details matter at the highest level, and so far this season Wembanyama is operating closer to the hoop with greater intention. 

Through these first eight games, Wembanyama is taking five more shots a night than he did last year. Nearly all of them are coming from inside the paint, as you can see in the table below highlighting his field-goal attempts from each area. 

As a matter of percentage, Wembanyama is taking 42% of his shots from inside three feet this year, up from 33% last year. Those 5.1 dunks per game put him on pace for more than 400 this season, which would obliterate Rudy Gobert's NBA record of 302. 

How is Wembanyama doing this? It's not a traditional thing where he's just posting up lower (which he isn't yet strong enough to do on demand and may not ever be), and there still isn't a specific spot or shot he is establishing as the go-to move everyone is clamoring for. It's just the intent to get down there, whether it's by rim rolls, crashing the offensive glass, or forgoing some of the settle 3-pointers for show-and-go drives. 

Look at the clip below. He could've taken this initial 3, but he didn't. Instead, he got off the ball to establish himself 10 feet closer to the hoop, where he's now one cut away from a dunk as the Spurs have five 3-point threats on the floor who have collectively pulled every defender away from the basket. 

That is what a concerted effort looks like. The seas may not always part like that, but Wembanyama is making it a point to occupy lower positioning more often, where he's ready and able to strike when the slightest crack presents itself. In many cases, Wembanyama is just hanging out beneath the basket or in the dunker's spot along the baseline from the start, rather than having to fight down there after he's started the possession 30 feet away. 

One thing the Spurs are doing is initiating pick-and-rolls lower on the floor, so that Wembanyama, with his length, is a single turn from the front of the rim rather than having to navigate all the way from the 3-point line, which gives defenses time to clog his path. 

This isn't rocket science. Wembanyama can go up so much higher than everyone else that it's simply a matter of him being near the rim. From there, the Spurs are just throwing it up as you would to an adult playing with kids. 

Even the off-the-backboard lobs that Wembanyama is throwing to himself are more than a social media highlight. Note where he's catching the ball: at the free-throw line. When Wembanyama is one step from the rim, just about anything is at his disposal. 

De'Aaron Fox has talked about running these pick-and-rolls with Wembanyama where he's popping into the free-throw area for soft-spot jumpers, which are going to be there any time he wants as defenses sag back in an attempt, to whatever degree possible, to discourage dunks. 

Those shots are about as close to a guaranteed clean look that Wembanyama can get from inside the arc. They are not going in at the moment. He's just 28% from 10-16 feet. But these are the stations from which he can play entirely on his terms. The 3-pointers, particularly the pull-up ones, are on the defense's terms, though he can make them and on plenty of nights will.

So far this year, Wembanyama is making just 24% of his 3s. That will go up, and the threat of him making that shot serves San Antonio's spacing well. He shouldn't, and won't, quit taking them. When they start going in, it could get flat-out unstoppable. But it's a fine balance, and Wembanyama is rightfully erring more on the lower side of the floor this year. 

When Wembanyama scored his previous career high of 50 points in 2024, he did so on the strength of eight made 3s. On Wednesday, he only made one 3, while making 15 of his 20 shots from inside the arc. By aggressively going into the paint, he's also in position to draw more fouls, and indeed he made 19 free throws against the Mavs. 

That is old-school center stuff. Just flat-out dominating inside. Wembanyama can obviously get buckets either way, but the closer-to-the-hoop way is the better bet all things being equal. On some level, this is pretty simple for a player this size, and you can see Wembanyama starting to figure that out.