SAN ANTONIO -- Victor Wembanyama earned the polyphony of MVP chants that vibrated through Frost Bank Center by cramming a full night's work into his first 17 minutes before finishing with career highs in points (52) and rebounds (24) in the San Antonio Spurs' 112-111 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.

"It's just figuring things out," Wembanyama said. "Sometimes, you're one step ahead. Also, I haven't been feeling great lately. I'm sick. I felt like I got my legs back. So, it should be more like this more often."

If so, beware to the rest of the NBA.

Wembanyama started red-hot against the Mavericks, racking up 10 of San Antonio's first 12 points on the way to pouring in 29 points over nearly 17 minutes in the first half. The outburst was his second-highest scoring output in any half in his career, eclipsed only by his 37-point first half in February against the Los Angeles Lakers.

More than half of the points (15) came at the foul line, with Wembanyama nailing all 15 of his free throws to tie James Harden in 2019 for the most without a miss in the first half during the play-by-play era (since 1997-98).

Wembanyama logged 15 rebounds and five blocks in a first half that San Antonio led 68-51. The 22-year-old made history by becoming the first player to record at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in a half.

Wembanyama finished with eight blocks, the most in a 50-plus-point performance since blocks became official in 1973-74.

"Twenty-[four] rebounds, nine offensive rebounds," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "Excluding the 3s, he was 15-for-20 from the field, which means he was all over the basket area and around the paint. He was a man tonight, and his teammates rewarded him quite a bit. He got rewarded in a variety of ways by just dominating both ends."

Wembanyama became the first player with at least 50 points and 20 rebounds in a one-point win since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964 and just the third player in NBA history with such a line, also joining Elgin Baylor. He is the fifth player in NBA history with multiple 50-point games at age 22 or younger, having put up 50 in a win over the Washington Wizards in November 2024.

Told that Wembanyama's stat line was comparable to Chamberlain's performances of the past, Spurs guard Dylan Harper didn't mince words.

"He's basically Wilt," Harper said. "The other team tries to do everything [to stop Wembanyama]. They throw out any adjustment, every adjustment. It's hard to keep big fella out of the paint. He's so dominant when he screens and rolls. He knows how to get to his spots. He's great at the free throw line. So, for us, it's just how do we get him the ball and how do we get the low man away from him?"

Wembanyama also drew comparisons to another Hall of Famer -- he joined Bob McAdoo in 1974 as the second player since blocks became official with at least 50 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in a game.

Perhaps the most eye-popping portion of Wembanyama's virtuoso performance took place on the defensive end. Over a span of 13 seconds in the second quarter, Wembanyama swatted away three consecutive shots from Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford in the same possession.

Flagg tried Wembanyama first with an eight-foot floater that the Frenchman smacked into the crowd opposite Dallas' bench. Then, Wembanyama blocked Washington's pull-up attempt into a group of fans behind the Mavericks' basket. Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox collected the third block of the sequence.

"If I got blocked three times in a row, I feel like I'd be pretty upset," Harper said. "But that's Vic. He takes pride on the defensive side and things like that are just natural to him."

Dallas shot a combined 2-of-13 in the first half when contested by Wembanyama, with the average field goal distance coming from 5.5 feet.

With 9:11 left to play, Wembanyama and the Spurs experienced somewhat of a scary moment when he rolled his right ankle. Wembanyama subbed out with the Spurs leading 94-87. Once the Mavericks cut the deficit to one point (100-99) with 6:05 left on a Flagg alley-oop dunk, Wembanyama reentered to close out the game with 10 points down the stretch.

"He's Superman," Harper said. "He rolls his ankle and pops right up and acts like nothing happened. I've never seen [something] like that, but that's a testament to how he takes care of his body."

Wembanyama said he was "feeling fine" when asked about the sore ankle, calling the play "the moment that stands out" because "both teams were really fighting at this moment, and they stepped up their physicality and forced us to step up ours."

No player has produced more points, rebounds or blocks in a game this season than Wembanyama, who tied or set NBA highs in all three categories against the Mavericks.

San Antonio outscored Dallas 87-64 during Wembanyama's time on the floor but struggled to a minus-22 when he was on the bench.

"I think he's settled into the season like we all have," Johnson said of Wembanyama. "We just had to make sure we got to a good spot in terms of this team needed to get to where our feet were. There's a lot with this team that has potential and there's a lot this team had to get to the starting blocks for the season. We're starting to finally play the brand of basketball that we know how and how we should play."

ESPN Research contributed to this report.