The TakeNov 8, 2026·By The Dyme

How 52 for Wembanyama, 53 for Doncic and 588 Days for JuJu Watkins Ran the Basketball Week, Nov. 2-8

Wembanyama’s contrasting wins, Doncic and Curry’s late scoring, and Watkins’s return showed why basketball’s biggest weekly numbers needed context.

Dyme card featuring Victor Wembanyama: How 52 for Wembanyama, 53 for Doncic and 588 Days for JuJu Watkins Ran the Basketball Week, Nov. 2-8

Photo: NBA. Card design: The Dyme.

Victor Wembanyama put up 52 points, 24 rebounds and eight blocks on Wednesday, and the Spurs needed every one of them to beat Dallas 112-111. Three nights later he played 24 minutes in Portland, scored 29 and watched the last 16:20 from the bench in a 125-103 win. Those two nights tell most of the week. The biggest individual lines kept arriving, and the teams carrying them kept winning.

Here is what mattered from Monday, Nov. 2, through Saturday night, Nov. 7.

Wembanyama, and a Spurs run that keeps getting longer

The Wednesday line has almost no company. Wembanyama became the first player with at least 50 and 20 in a one-point win since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964, and the third ever with at least 50 points and 20 rebounds in a one-point win after Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor, per ESPN. His eight blocks are the most in a 50-point game since blocks became official in 1973-74. He had 29, 15 and five blocks by halftime. The full Take on that night covers the ankle roll with 9:11 left and the free throw with 24.2 seconds to go.

The on/off split was stark. San Antonio outscored Dallas 87-64 with Wembanyama on the floor and was minus-22 in the minutes he sat, per ESPN and the AP.

Saturday showed the other side. San Antonio scored 42 in the second quarter and 45 in the third at Portland, led by as many as 35 and never trailed, per the ESPN box score. Wembanyama went 9 of 13 from the field, per the AP via WTOP, and checked out with 4:20 left in the third. The Spurs are 8-2 after an 0-2 start, and the Saturday Take counts a combined 119-point margin across the eight wins.

That streak needs honest framing. Dallas, Sacramento and Utah account for six of the eight. Portland arrived 6-2 and lost by 22 on its own floor. The test is Monday in Phoenix.

Doncic keeps scoring 40, and the Lakers keep needing it

Luka Doncic scored 40 at Sacramento on Wednesday and reached 308 points through his first eight appearances, the first player since Michael Jordan in 1988-89 to clear 300 in that window, per NBA.com's Starting 5. Jordan had 303. Only Wilt Chamberlain has scored more than 308 through eight, and he did it three times, per Sky Sports. The Dyme broke down the 308 on Thursday.

Then Friday, against Portland, he scored 53 in a 124-118 win. It was his fourth straight 40-point game, which puts him with Baylor, Kobe Bryant and George Mikan as the only Lakers to do that in the regular season, per the AP via ESPN. His 361 points through nine player appearances are the most to start a season since Chamberlain's 472 in 1962-63, per Basketnews.

The 53-point Take found the warning inside the win. The Lakers missed their first 15 threes, Austin Reaves needed 22 shots for 25 points, and Portland shot better from the field and from three, per the ESPN team stats. Los Angeles won on 24 Portland turnovers and Doncic scoring 20 in the third quarter alone. The Lakers are 8-2. Doncic said it himself to the Los Angeles Times: "We're just 10 games in. We got 72 left."

Curry at 38, and the Warrior who has not played

Stephen Curry spent the week moving up lists. On Thursday his three with 7:03 left in the first quarter passed Oscar Robertson for 17th on the NBA's all-time scoring list, per NBA.com, in a 120-100 win over Miami. On Saturday he scored 41 against Orlando in a 126-119 overtime win, his 16th regular-season 40-point game since turning 35, the most in NBA history, per the AP. LeBron James has 15 and Jordan 12 on that list.

He scored all 12 of Golden State's last points in regulation, per the CBS Sports play-by-play, on a night Orlando took 33 more shots. The Saturday Take has the rest. Golden State has won seven straight since starting 0-3, and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg added 23 against the Magic.

The other Warriors story had no box score. Wednesday reports said Golden State was withholding payments on Porziņģis’s $20 million salary. He remains under contract, and Slater reported that stepping away does not change his availability as a trade chip. On Friday Porzingis posted a statement on X saying he had "made the decision to prioritize my health and step away from the game I love." Anthony Slater’s report described the contract’s trade availability.

JuJu Watkins came back, and women's college basketball opened loud

JuJu Watkins played her first game in 588 days on Monday and scored 21 on 9-of-22 shooting in 25 minutes as No. 3 USC beat UNLV 100-68 in Las Vegas, per the official USC and UNLV box scores. The last time she played a full season, she won the 2025 national player of the year awards. Without her in 2025-26, USC went 18-14.

The Dyme's Watkins Take went through the UNLV play-by-play. Fifteen of her 22 shots came in the paint. She went 0 of 5 from three. UNLV’s official play-by-play tagged seven Watkins attempts as ‘from turnover’; she made five. She went 4-of-15 on attempts without that tag, by our count. That number is the one to carry to Nov. 15, when USC plays South Carolina, the preseason No. 1, in Greenville.

Elsewhere the scoreboard ran hot. No. 8 Vanderbilt led Queens 73-11 at halftime, a program record for points in any half, and won 100-42 for its second straight 100-point game, the first time it had done that since 1994-95, per Vanderbilt Athletics and the Dyme's game post. Madison Booker scored 24 in No. 6 Texas' opener and 30 on Saturday in a 91-29 win in which Northern Colorado turned it over 32 times, per the ESPN box score.

Blowouts against low-major teams prove little on their own. Watkins' return proves more, because USC's ceiling depends on her.

The WNBA offseason had its own jolt. The New York Liberty moved on from Chris DeMarco after one season, a 26-18 record and a 3-0 semifinal sweep by Atlanta, as ESPN's Alexa Philippou reported and the New York Post confirmed. That makes three head coaches in three seasons for the 2024 champions, per the Dyme's Liberty Take.

Old numbers found new owners

Three marks moved this week, each one built over years. LeBron James became the first player with 16,000 regular-season field goals on Wednesday at Detroit, in his 24th season, per NBA.com and the Dyme's Take. LaMelo Ball made his 1,000th three on Monday in his 311th game, 32 games faster than Duncan Robinson's record of 343, per ClutchPoints and the Dyme's Ball Take.

And Oklahoma City set a date for a number nobody will wear again. The Thunder will retire Russell Westbrook's No. 0 on Feb. 7, 2027, against the Knicks, per the team on X. He scored 18,859 points with 138 triple-doubles in 11 seasons there, per Basketball-Reference, as the Dyme's Westbrook Take laid out.

What to watch

San Antonio plays at Phoenix on Monday with eight straight in hand. Golden State hosts Charlotte the same night with seven. USC gets its first real test of the Watkins return on Nov. 15 against South Carolina. Houston reached 7-1 on Monday but ended Saturday 7-3 after losses to Minnesota and Phoenix.

Wembanyama scored 52 in a one-point escape against Dallas, then 29 while sitting the final 16:20 against Portland. Doncic and Curry supplied late scoring in closer wins. Watkins’s 21-point return established availability; her 4-of-15 shooting on attempts not tagged ‘from turnover’ leaves an efficiency question for South Carolina.

Sources:

Take·Nov 14, 2026

Down 10 With 4:41 Left, LSU Beats No. 14 Gonzaga 81-80 on Donovan Dent's Step-Back Three

Gonzaga had a 96.9 percent chance to win, per ESPN's win probability, after a Xaivian Lee three made it 75-65 with 4:41 left. LSU scored 16 of the last 21 points, and the Bulldogs did not make a field goal over the final 3:02.

Take·Nov 14, 2026

Stephon Castle scores 32 on 12-of-18 as the Spurs beat the Warriors 123-85 for 11 straight

Victor Wembanyama tied his season low with 12 points, and San Antonio still led by 43 as Castle made as many shots Friday as he had in his previous three games combined.

Take·Nov 13, 2026

Amari Allen Scores 24 as No. 18 Alabama Makes 29 Free Throws and Holds Off Seton Hall 82-76

No. 18 Alabama beat Seton Hall 82-76 in Tuscaloosa after a 17-point lead shrank to three with 57 seconds left. Amari Allen scored 24, and the Tide made 29 of 38 free throws.

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