Wembanyama drops 40 as Spurs beat Mavericks, reach award eligibility

Victor Wembanyama had 40 points and 13 rebounds in his 65th game to become eligible for NBA awards, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks 139-120 on Friday night.

De’Aaron Fox had 18 points and 10 assists and Keldon Johnson had 17 points for San Antonio.

Rookie Cooper Flagg had 33 points, six rebounds and five assists for Dallas, which has lost 11 of 13.

After opening the season with a 40-point game against Dallas, Wembanyama reached 40 for the fifth time in what could be his regular-season finale.

The NBA requires a minimum of 65 games played to be eligible for season-long awards and Wembanyama got there in San Antonio’s penultimate game.

The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama, who leads the league with 197 blocks, is favored to win Defensive Player of the Year, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

He missed Wednesday’s 112-101 victory over Portland after suffering a left rib contusion during the first half of Monday’s 115-102 win over Philadelphia.

Wembanyama quickly showed he was fine by stepping through three defenders to throw down a right-handed dunk to open the scoring. He added another dunk and a step-back 3-pointer while scoring 16 points in the opening period.

The Spurs won the Southwest Division for the first time since 2017 and have secured the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. San Antonio opens the postseason against a team that makes it through the play-in tournament — either Phoenix, the Los Angeles Clippers or Portland.

San Antonio closes its regular season at home Sunday against Denver.

Spurs guard Stephon Castle remains out with left foot soreness. Coach Mitch Johnson said Castle is close to returning.