Sawt Falasteen - Wembanyama powers Spurs over Hornets for 17th win in 19 games

The 22-year-old, 7-foot-4 (2.24m) French center added eight assists, three blocked shots and two steals as the host Spurs avenged a January loss at Charlotte.

"That might have been my worst defensive game all year," Wembanyama said. "So yeah, we had to make a statement today."

The Spurs improved to 49-18, the second-best record in the NBA and only three games behind Western Conference leader and reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City.

"What's next is pretty straightforward. We want to win everything," Wembanyama said.

"We've got one disadvantage is that we don't got experience. But that can be an advantage, too, because if we don't know it's impossible we might still do it."

The Spurs, who lost to Denver on Thursday while Wembanyama was out with a sore right ankle, are set for their first playoff appearance since 2019. They last won a playoff series in 2017.

Wembanyama is mindful of keeping his body healthy for the upcoming post-season and in his quest for personal awards -- the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Defensive Player of the Year trophies.

"In my mind it's taking great care of my body because I also want to win the MVP and defensive player of the year," Wembanyama said.

"I'm trying to press the gas now until the end of the season -- really take care of my treatment, take care of my sleep, take care of my routine and show up for my team."

Wembanyama scored four points and added an assist in a 12-0 Spurs run to grab a 104-88 lead with 6:05 remaining.

"It's tough to scout for Vic," Spurs guard Stephon Castle said. "We try to play off him. We try to make the game as easy for us as possible."

Wembanyama has experimented during the season with different methods of attacking opponents, but has locked in on a dominating style.

"I like this ability of mine to be able to do great (at) lots of things," he said. "You can see in my career there have been periods... I was shooting more threes and this year earlier I had my only games with zero threes attempted because I was being super aggressive to the rim.

"It's just me trying to experience different things. Nowadays I'm shooting more threes because that's something I can do at a good level."

San Antonio cruised late to defeat a Hornets team that won eight of its prior 10 contests.

"It's big. To come back to the crib and take care of the home court is good," Spurs guard Devin Vassell said.

Castle, who had 15 points and 10 assists, added, "Trying to make big energy plays to help our team win but trying to have fun while we're doing it too... When we share the ball, we're a tough team to beat."

- Hawks' streak at nine -

The Atlanta Hawks stretched their win streak to nine games, a run they had not produced since the 2014-15 campaign, by defeating visiting Milwaukee 122-99.

Jalen Johnson had a triple double for the Hawks with 23 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds while C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 30 points for Atlanta and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 20 points.

Philadelphia's Quentin Grimes scored a season-high 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lift the host 76ers over Brooklyn 104-97.

In later games, Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets face Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers while Washington visits Boston and the Orlando Magic, on a six-game win streak, play at Miami, with the Heat on a seven-game win streak.

S.AbuJamous--SF-PST