Wembanyama overcomes Jokic to lead Spurs to win over Nuggets

All-star night in the NBA, in which the present and the future of the league met face to face and the player sure to be the next great star of the league beat the present MVP. Frenchman Victor Wembanyama, in a stellar performance, overcame Serbian Nikola Jokic and lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 110-113 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

The Frenchman found no better way to celebrate his 21st birthday and 100th NBA game than to make a memorable performance against the three-time MVP winner and lead his team to victory. Wembanyama finished with 35 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks, shooting 14-of-22 from the field, 4-of-6 on three-pointers and 3-of-4 on free throws.

Wembanyama, key in decisive moments

The success of the Spurs' star in the decisive moments (he scored 8 points in the final period) made the extraordinary work of Jokic futile. The Serbian scored 41 points, 18 rebounds and 9 assists, falling one assist short of what would have been his 15th triple-double of the season. However, his scoring numbers could have been much higher, as he missed 21 of the 36 shots he attempted, going 3 for 10 on three-pointers and making 8 of 9 free throws.

To make it even more epic, both players, who occupy the same position on the court, spent all their minutes on the court in a continuous one-on-one battle, a duel that was key in the outcome of the game.

A heart-stopping finish with a spectacular defense by Wembanyama on Doncic

The game had a heart-stopping finish. Chris Paul managed to score after an assist from Wembanyama with less than a minute left in the game. With 17 seconds left, desperate after missing two fruitless attacks, the Nuggets called timeout with the ball in their possession. The ball came into the hands of Jokic, who was met by Wembanyama who resisted all of the MVP's attempts to get past him and impeded him from shooting, forcing him to look for a pass that came to Devin Vassell who shot out to score a layup in transition with less than 2 seconds to go.

The Nuggets tried to force overtime with a long three-pointer by Michael Porter that didn't go in.

Thunder end Knicks' streak, Cavaliers reach 30 wins

The leaders of both conferences again showed their strength by winning their respective games. The Cavaliers reached 30 wins in the regular season after defeating the Dallas Mavericks(134-122), setting a new record for consecutive games won by more than 10 points.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference leaders, the Oklahoma City Thunder managed to end the New York Knicks' streak of nine consecutive wins (107-117), who saw second place slipping away with the Celtics' thrashing of the Rockets (109-86).