Wembanyama authored the 12th 30-point game of his career in the Spurs’ win

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama posted his 12th career 30-point game and his first of the season on Monday, leading his team to a 116-96 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Wembanyama scored 34 points with 14 rebounds, six assists and three blocks in his 82nd career NBA game, becoming the sixth player in league history to record more than 1,700 points, more than 800 rebounds and 300 or more in his first 82 games collected more assists. The 20-year-old joins a group that includes Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sidney Wicks, Larry Bird and Blake Griffin.

“He shoots every day,” Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson said. “He missed really good shots earlier in the year and I understand why that is a topic of conversation. But I don’t think we ever gave up on him not taking shots. I think it’s just the percentages balancing out at this point.”

Wembanyama shot 6 of 12 from 3-point range against the Kings, who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back set, matching his career high in 3-pointers in a 111-110 loss to the Utah Jazz. The Frenchman made two of his first three attempts from 3-point range in the first quarter and two from three in the second quarter as San Antonio took a 38-29 lead into the break.

Through the team’s first 11 games of the season, Wembanyama looked to do much of his damage from distance, shooting 10 of 41 from 3-point range in the final five contests before hitting 12 of 21 from long range in his final two games. With the Spurs leading by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter, Wembanyama increased his shooting accuracy even further to close out the game, sinking 4 of 5 balls from the field and 2 of 3 balls from distance.

He sent the 17,163 spectators at Frost Bank Center into a frenzy with a putback dunk after a missed shot by Stephon Castle with 58 ticks left.

“I think what’s changed for sure is that I haven’t taken fewer threes,” Wembanyama said. “I took better 3s, I think. Of course it feels better. I’m 20. I hope things continue to feel better for a few years. There’s no reason for it to feel any worse.”

Wembanyama’s performance against the Kings marked his seventh career game with 30 or more points, more than 10 rebounds and at least five assists. The Spurs now have a record of 5-7 in those games.

“He’s a great shooter,” Spurs forward Harrison Barnes said. “I never doubted his shooting and playing ability. For us, it’s just about continuing to make shots even if we don’t make them. “Obviously we had a little bit of trouble shooting early in the season. “But we’re just continuing to take shots with confidence and let them fly.”

Defensively, Wembanyama recorded his fifth straight game with three or more blocks, marking the second-longest streak of his career, just four games shy of the nine games he posted from February to March last season. Wembanyama recorded one of his three blocks against three-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis.

“Domantas is one of the five best centers in the league,” said Barnes, a former teammate of Sabonis in Sacramento. “His stats speak for themselves.” In order for Vic to take on the challenge tonight, he often guards him one-on-one. That was a great performance against a great player.”

Veteran point guard Chris Paul worked with Wembanyama on Sunday and Devin Vassell, who made his season debut on Saturday after missing the first nine games of the season. The trio once again completed an additional session together at the team’s shootaround on Monday.

“I wish you could see the work that goes on every day,” Paul said. “Things happen in the game where we all, everyone on the team, see the development. So it’s fun to see that.”

Paul scored 12 points against the Kings and added 11 assists for his 531st career double, which ranks third-most among all guards since the NBA-ABA merger, behind John Stockton (714) and Magic Johnson (615). Paul has already had four games with 10 or more points and more than 10 assists after posting five such performances in 58 contests last season.

“I think it was one of those nights where we got back to our strengths,” Wembanyama said. “We needed points and we also had people we knew we could call on.”