Aurélien Canot, Media365: published on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at 07:55
With 32 points scored on Tuesday night during the Spurs’ visit, Maxime Raynaud established his new record since joining the NBA. However, he could not prevent the Texans and Victor Wembanyama (18 points) from continuing their momentum. Maxime Raynaud stole the spotlight from Victor Wembanyama. Tuesday night, during the Spurs’ trip to Sacramento, all eyes of French supporters were focused on the new performance of the phenomenal San Antonio pivot. Yet, for once, it was not the French superstar who outshone his compatriot from the Kings, but the other way around. For one evening, Raynaud indeed outperformed “Wemby”.
In terms of individual performance, that is, because when it comes to the direct confrontation between the OKC runner-up in the West and the last-placed team in the conference, there was no competition – the Texans and the best player of February in the West dominated the Californians all night long (winning 132-104) despite Raynaud’s outstanding performance.
Wembanyama less prominent but decisive nonetheless Because while Killian Hayes, now tied for two years with the Kings, delivered a very convincing performance off the bench with 7 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds in 20 minutes of play, the former Nanterre forward reached new heights in this game, setting a new NBA scoring record for the Parisian with 32 points (including 16 in the 3rd quarter), shooting 16 out of 25, with 2 out of 5 from three-point range, as well as 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block in 42 minutes on the court.
Raynaud, whose previous best was 29 points before Tuesday, still wasn’t enough against the Spurs who never wavered – they led by as much as 38 points – to secure their 51st victory (the 3rd in a row and the 19th in the last 21 games). “Wemby”, who only appeared for 22 minutes, finished as the top scorer of his team alongside Keldon Johnson, with 18 points (7 for 14 shooting, including 2 out of 7 from three-point range, as well as 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block.
The native of Chesnay did not reach the same heights as Raynaud on Tuesday but that did not stop him from being decisive once again. And to lead his team, which reached 50 victories for the first time since 2017 on Sunday, to this new success.
