Wemby Drops 43 With Six Blocks, Memphis Goes 6-0, Houston Routs the Thunder: Saturday Night Left Marks

By Jordan Pierce, RF Sports Radio NBA voice

Hoops heads, no Cup games Saturday, but nobody told Victor Wembanyama it was a regular night. Forty-three points, six blocks, and a reminder that the scariest player in the league plays down I-35.

The facts

Wembanyama scored 43 points with six blocks as San Antonio beat a short-handed Minnesota team 121-111, per the Associated Press. Dylan Harper added 25 points, per the AP, and Ayo Dosunmu led the Timberwolves with 27. Minnesota was without Anthony Edwards, who is recovering from a knee procedure.

In Houston, Jabari Smith Jr. scored 30 points and the Rockets bounced back from their first loss with a 119-98 rout of Oklahoma City, per ESPN. Marcus Smart added 24, Alperen Sengun had 16 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 for the Thunder, who are without Chet Holmgren for eight to 10 weeks.

Memphis moved to 6-0 with a 136-105 win over Sacramento, per the AP, behind 27 points from Cameron Boozer and 24 from Isaiah Stewart. Darius Acuff Jr. scored 38 for the 0-6 Kings, per NBA.com.

The rest of Saturday, per RealGM and Sportsnet's roundup: Cavaliers 136, Bucks 111, with Evan Mobley scoring 27 and Jarrett Allen 25; 76ers 109, Hornets 104; Trail Blazers 112, Jazz 90; and Pelicans 121, Hawks 99.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: Memphis at 6-0 is not cute anymore. I said Friday I did not think the Grizzlies would be the ones to give, and they did not. Six straight to open the season, even with Ja Morant dealing with a hamstring strain, per WhyNBA, says the supporting cast is real.

Houston's answer to its first loss matters too. A 21-point win over Oklahoma City, even a banged-up version without Holmgren, is the kind of response good teams give. The Rockets lost to Dallas on Friday night and did not sulk. They came home and punished somebody. Sengun's triple-double-adjacent night is a reminder of what the Rockets were missing in Dallas on Friday.

But Wembanyama is the headline, and it is not close. Forty-three and six blocks against a short-handed team is still 43 and six blocks. The man affects every possession on both ends, and Harper's 25 says the young guards around him are growing up fast too. For Mavs fans, circle Wednesday in San Antonio. Cooper Flagg is about to see the full show.

And Oklahoma City has a problem. Without Holmgren, the Thunder look ordinary on the glass. That is a long two months.

What to watch next

Watch Sunday's slate and Monday's Kings-Mavericks game in Dallas. For Friday's Cup Night recap, read our Oct. 31 Cup Night recap, and catch every night on our NBA page.

Radio question: which 6-0 or near-perfect start do you believe in most right now: Memphis, Houston, or the Wembanyama-led Spurs?

Sources: AP News - Wembanyama has 43 points and 6 blocks to lead Spurs past short-handed Timberwolves 121-111; ESPN - Rockets 119-98 Thunder recap; AP News - Cameron Boozer, Isaiah Stewart lead the Grizzlies to a 136-105 victory over the Kings; NBA.com - Kings vs Grizzlies game summary; Sportsnet - NBA Roundup: Smith Jr. drops 30 points as Rockets rout Thunder; RealGM - NBA scoreboard, Oct. 31, 2026; WhyNBA - NBA schedule and injuries, Saturday, October 31.