VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France (AP) – The first three minutes were easy for Victor Wembanyama on Tuesday. So were the last five minutes.
Everything else was a grind.
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Grabbing at his lower right leg after a quick trip off the court late in the first quarter, then grabbing at his left hip a couple of times later in the game, Wembanyama seemed to be laboring at times in France’s second game of the Paris Olympics. He finished with 18 points — getting a three-point play that put his team ahead for good 26 seconds into overtime — and France wound up holding off a serious upset bid by Japan, winning 94-90.
“The realization, the dynamic of the game,” Wembanyama said when asked what changed in overtime. “They were playing like underdogs and we were waiting for them to punch a little bit too much. I wanted to make a point and punch first in overtime. And it worked.”
As far as what seemed to be physically bothering him?
“Not the hip,” Wembanyama said. “Other places, but not the hip.”
It was tied at 84 going into the extra session, after Wembanyama wasn’t much of a factor in the last 3-1/2 quarters of regulation.
Overtime was all Wemby.
He had eight points in the first 4:26. Nobody else scored a single point in that span — not from France, not from Japan — and he ensured that the hosts would escape.
“Champion maturity. Champion mentality,” France coach Vincent Collet said. “He was not good in the second half, but he didn’t lose confidence. And he made the tough plays.”
Wembanyama had help, most notably Matthew Strazel’s four-point play to tie the game for France with 10.2 seconds left in regulation — “the shot of his life,” Wembanyama said — and Japanese star Rui Hachimura, who had 24 points, getting ejected early in the fourth quarter after his second unsportsmanlike foul of the game.
Hachimura’s teammates pressed on anyway, nearly pulling off a surprise.
“We lost Rui but never gave up,” said 5-foot-8 Japan guard Yuri Kawamura, who led all scorers with 29 points. “That’s it.”
It seemed like it would be a dominant Wembanyama night in the early going. Hachimura didn’t even bother jumping for the opening tipoff; he simply conceded it to Wembanyama, who had eight points in the first 3:20.
But he went strangely silent from there — until OT, that is.
“He’s an extremely talented player, No. 1 draft pick, one of the tallest players in the world, he’s extremely skilled,” said Japan center Josh Hawkinson, who spent a lot of his day guarding Wembanyama. “He’s still 20 years old. Our game plan is to try to be a little bit physical with him. Obviously, as he matures and grows, he’s going to really grow into his body and be able to use his body extremely well.”
Wembanayma saved his best for the end while also finishing with 11 rebounds and six assists. And France survived.
“I don’t know why he has to prove more,” France forward Bilal Coulibaly said. “He was being himself, a great teammate, a great player. Proud of him.”