Victor Wembanyama is embracing life at center for the Spurs - ESPN

VICTOR WEMBANYAMA SAW the play developing before he even crossed half court.

He had Tre Jones and Julian Champagnie to his right. On his left, Jeremy Sochan controlled the ball while Devin Vassell ran to the wing. Once he entered the frontcourt, Sochan dribbled toward Vassell before cutting back toward the center of the court, where he handed the ball off to the San Antonio Spurs' 7-foot-4 rookie sensation at the top of the key.

Wembanyama, setting up the two-man game that has become so effective for the Spurs of late, immediately fired the ball to Vassell. Sochan slowly backed away, giving Wembanyama and Vassell all the space they needed on the left side of the court.

Wembanyama and Vassell both knew what came next.

Wembanyama moved as if to set a screen for Vassell but instead slipped the screen between Charlotte Hornets' defenders Nick Richards and Miles Bridges. Vassell hoisted up a lob over their outstretched arms to a waiting Wembanyama, who slammed it home.

As Wembanyama jogged back up the court, Vassell and Sochan were ahead of him. He pointed at them, acknowledging both of their roles in the play.

«It's something we didn't do two months ago, a month and a half ago, moving the ball and making quick plays like this,» Wembanyama said that night. «Also throwing lobs like this, Devin has been improving greatly very fast.

»So those kinds of efforts when we share the ball like this, it's really unstoppable."

The alley-oop was part of a run of 13 consecutive points for Wembanyama in the third quarter of a 135-99 win over Charlotte, by far the largest victory of the season for San Antonio, and its fourth since moving Wembanyama into his current role as the team's starting center.

When the regular season began, the Spurs