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SALT LAKE CITY — It took just two minutes for Victor Wembanyama to elicit some wondrous oohs from the Delta Center crowd.
First, he recovered and blocked John Collins at the rim after the Jazz forward appeared to have an open look at the rim. Then, as he made a move in the post, the ball flew out of his hands — somehow, it still hit the backboard and bounced in.
The first Wembanyama experience in Salt Lake City was off and running.
Those wouldn't be the last times last year's No. 1 pick brought out similar responses from the Jazz's home crowd — his stretch dunk to start the second half was his most absurd play of the night — on his way to 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks (many of which were quite laughable).
And the Jazz fans could mostly enjoy the ridiculousness of watching a 7-foot-4 player dribble full court and finish with a two-hand dunk since Sunday's result — save for a few possessions early in the fourth quarter — was never really in doubt. Utah snapped a five-game losing streak with a 128-109 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Lauri Markkanen had 26 points and seven rebounds, and Jordan Clarkson added 22 points and 10 assists to lead the Jazz, who won for the first time since the trade deadline.
But the story on Sunday was the man some have dubbed "alien" making his first appearance in Salt Lake City.
Wembanyama, who has a standing reach seemingly a mile-long and fresh off a historic performance in Los Angeles, didn't disappoint.
The rookie didn't match his stat line against the Lakers when he became the youngest player to record a "five-by-five" (breaking former Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko's record) with 27 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, five blocks, and five steals — but he was pretty close, especially early. In the first five minutes of the game, Wembanyama blocked three shots, swallowing up Utah's drives to the rim.
"At the end of the day, we try not to worry about who we're playing and just try to stick to our principles," said Collin Sexton who had 16 points and 10 assists. "I felt like a few times we tried to go challenge just forgetting he was there. At that height, and just who he is, he'll block shots each and every time."
Unless, that is, he wasn't on the court. When Wembanyama subbed out for the first time in the first quarter, the Jazz held a 7-point lead; it ballooned to 22 before he subbed back in ... and the Jazz got smarter, too.
"We did a poor job with our rim reads early in the game," Will Hardy said.
The Jazz used Collins — who had 20 points, eight rebounds and three triples — in an attempt to space out the towering Spurs center. Once he started hitting from outside and not challenging him at the rim, things went smoother for Utah.
On the other end, it was rookie vs. rookie with Taylor Hendricks performing admirably against Wembanyma.
"No one has enough size to guard Victor, but I think Taylor did a good job with his speed and his length and tried to climb up underneath him a little bit and speed him up some," Hardy said.
Wembanyama was 9-of-17 from the field and was forced into some midrange jumpers. Hendricks said he was just trying to keep him away from the rim, "because when he gets into paint, like he's 7-foot-5, so it's a little easier."
Hardy thought Hendricks did a good job of doing just that, especially with keeping him in front on his initial moves to the basket.
"That allowed his teammates to help him," Hardy said. "We wanted to show heavy shifts to Wembanyama when he was in the post and in his isolation. And so I thought Taylor did a good job."
Hendricks said he never got a chance to get to know Wembanyama during the pre-draft circuit, but obviously knew of him; he was the most hyped draftee in decades, after all. So was there any extra excitement playing against him for the first time?
"Not really. I feel like, you know, every game I go into, like, I'm the same amount of excited, which is pretty excited," Hendricks said.
The difference on Sunday, though, came from his comfort level. In his second game as a starter, Hendricks had 9 points and six rebounds; he also made a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
Utah led by 23 points with four minutes left in the third quarter, but a 23-9 run by San Antonio cut the lead to single digits with 8:44 to play. That was when Hendricks hit a corner 3 to stop the bleeding. A few minutes later, the Jazz delivered the knockout blow with back-to-back triples from Clarkson and Markkanen.
"He's getting a little bit more confidence, which is natural," Hardy said of Hendricks. "It's been a couple of games now that he's been a starter and I would expect him to be more comfortable tonight than he was last game, and I hope that by the end of this road trip he's a little more comfortable than he is today."
