Victor Wembanyama needed 25 minutes for 102 fantasy points, and the Spurs' blowouts are now the only thing limiting him

Twenty-five minutes is not much of a night for a franchise center, and it was enough for Victor Wembanyama to post 40 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks on 15-of-19 shooting in San Antonio's 122-96 win at Phoenix on Monday. Under ESPN's standard scoring that line is worth 102 fantasy points, the best in the league on Monday by 21 over Cooper Flagg's 81, and the nine blocks alone account for 36 of them. The Associated Press recap on ESPN reports that he had 22 points, six rebounds and five blocks by halftime, and that once Dylan Harper's third quarter pushed the lead to 93-68, San Antonio's starters sat for much of the fourth.

That last detail is the one worth a manager's attention, because it has become the pattern of the Spurs' season rather than the exception. San Antonio has won nine straight since losing its first two games, and in four of Wembanyama's last six appearances he has played between 24 and 26 minutes. A shorter night usually means a smaller fantasy line, and for him it has not, which is why nobody holding him should treat the minutes as a warning sign.

The minutes went down and the production went up

Over the four games since his 52-point, 24-rebound night against Dallas, which we wrote about last week, Wembanyama has played 34, 26, 24 and 25 minutes and scored 119, 53, 53 and 102 fantasy points in our box scores. That is 327 fantasy points in 109 minutes, or 3.0 a minute, which is simple arithmetic on those four games rather than our projection. Across all 11 games this season he is averaging 29.8 minutes and 66.5 fantasy points, about 2.2 a minute, along with 30.1 points, 11.9 rebounds and 4.4 blocks.

Our projections already assume something close to these minutes. His line now has him at 30.5 minutes and 64.2 fantasy points a game over 71.1 games, up from 64.0 before Monday, with 3.7 blocks a night where he is currently averaging well over four. He stays second on our points board under ESPN's standard scoring and second on our 9-cat board, and the analysts' consensus has him second in both formats as well. Nikola Jokić remains the only player above him on our points board.

What the blowouts change, and what they do not

The cost of the Spurs' margin shows up in the games that are not close enough for a fourth quarter. His November 2 game against Utah lasted 24 minutes and produced 33 fantasy points with five turnovers, the one time this month a short night came with a short line, so the floor on a lopsided game is not guaranteed. The upside is unchanged, since a close game against a good team still gets him the 34 to 39 minutes of his longest nights in October, and two of his three biggest lines this season came in games of 34 minutes or more.

For head-to-head managers the practical effect is small. Nobody is benching the second player on both of our boards, and in categories leagues the blocks, rebounds and field-goal percentage he produces in 25 minutes are already more than most centers give in 35. The one place the minutes matter is in daily points leagues with a games cap, where a 25-minute night still uses a full game, and even there his rate makes every one of those games worth starting.

Harper's third quarter

The other Spur worth a note is Dylan Harper, who scored 14 of his 17 points in the third quarter, per the AP, and finished with five rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes, a 32-fantasy-point night in our box score. De'Aaron Fox added 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists. San Antonio plays at Chicago on Wednesday, and a closer game there is the likeliest way back to a full night of minutes for Wembanyama.

Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.