Victor Wembanyama puts up 42 points in Christmas Day debut - ESPN

NEW YORK — High on the Madison Square Garden scoreboard, a video montage played of blocked shots from New York Knicks of yesteryear as DMX's «Party Up» blared over the public address system.

Down on the court, though, no Knick could leap high enough Wednesday to swat a shot launched by Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 owner of a standing reach of nearly 10 feet. Making his Christmas Day debut, the Frenchman blistered the Knicks for a game-high 42 points — the most by a visitor on Christmas at Madison Square Garden — to go with 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks in a 117-114 San Antonio Spurs loss delivered through a 41-point effort from Mikal Bridges.

Wembanyama let out a deep sigh and paused for five seconds to ponder his performance in a game the Spurs had a chance to tie in the final minute.

«I don't even know really the history of the best Christmas games,» Wembanyama said. «I'm thinking about the game right now and just thinking we were close but relaxed on some attributes at times.»

Wembanyama became the third player in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain (1959 and 1961) and Nikola Jokic (2022) to score 40-plus points with 15-plus rebounds in a Christmas game. His 42-point performance ranks third in NBA history for a player making his Christmas Day debut behind Chamberlain (45) and Tracy McGrady (43).

«Good Lord, man,» Knicks guard Josh Hart said of Wembanyama. «He's different. The league will be in good hands when all the old guys and elder statesmen like LeBron [James] and [Kevin Durant] are out of the [sport]. His release point is so high, and his ability to hit shots, it opens up everything for them.»

The showdown marked just the third instance of dueling 40-point performances on Christmas in NBA history. The