SALT LAKE CITY — Victor Wembanyama wasn't in a hurry.

After leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 117-111 overtime victory over the Utah Jazz at Delta Center, the Frenchman took his time getting to the visitors' locker room.

He went through his full postgame recovery routine, receiving treatment and massages before eventually facing reporters. The Spurs weren't in a rush, either. Rather than flying home immediately after their third straight victory, they'd spend another night in Utah.

That gave Wembanyama some extra time to recover from a 39-minute outing. After finishing with 36 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks, he'd earned it.

"Vic is a beast," Devin Vassell said in the locker room. "He's shown that he's the best player in the world over and over ... I'm expecting him to come out every night and dominate."

Wembanyama's performance was his first 30-point outing of the young season, coming on 14-for-25 shooting from the field and 4-for-10 shooting from 3. He also went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line and committed zero turnovers, despite his heavy workload.

His final basket was perhaps his most important.

With just over a minute remaining in overtime, Vassell found Wembanyama for a dunk that extended San Antonio's lead to seven points. The play effectively iced the game, capping a night in which the Spurs needed their franchise cornerstone to deliver on both ends.

"He showed up in the big way for us tonight," Keldon Johnson said.

That was the encouraging part for San Antonio. Wembanyama had struggled to find his rhythm in the season opener against Oklahoma City, making just one of his 13 field goal attempts. Against Utah, he looked considerably more comfortable finding his spots.

For Spurs coach Mitch Johnson, the performance was as much about Wembanyama's teammates and the team's coaching staff as it was about the 7-foot-4 center himself.

"It's a triangulation of harmony," Johnson said, "between him understanding his spots and his environments, his teammates anticipating that and being able to deliver the basketball to him and the staff continuing to help everybody play out of certain environments."

Vassell, meanwhile, had a simpler explanation for what makes San Antonio dangerous when its star is playing at that level. He's no longer surprised by stat lines like Wednesday's.

"When he comes out aggressive ... blocking shots and dominating the paint and playing like we know he can play," Vassell said, "we're a very, very tough team to beat ... I don't want to say that it's normal, but we expect it from him, and he expects it from himself."

Those expectations aren't exclusive to Wembanyama's teammates. The Frenchman has made clear he holds himself to a similarly high standard that doesn't leave much room for celebrating individual performances. Asked about making plays down the stretch, Wembanyama pointed to repetition rather than anything particularly extraordinary.

Even still, Utah forced overtime and tested San Antonio throughout the night, requiring the Spurs to tighten up defensively before finally pulling away in the extra period.

"We stepped up defensively, all of us," he said. "I think we had had enough of our mistakes."

The victory wasn't without its shortcomings, however. San Antonio needed five additional minutes to put away a Jazz team that Wembanyama said deserved respect. He gave it flowers, anticipating two more meetings within the next two weeks, including on Nov. 2.

"They're a hard team to play against," Wembanyama said of the Jazz. "They get on fire easily. Wins are hard to come across in this league, and these guys are playing for something."

For the Spurs, the result was another early-season lesson in finding ways to win, even when the game doesn't unfold as expected. Their star's 36-point performance provided the foundation, but their collective response in overtime ultimately secured the victory.

By the time Wembanyama finished his recovery and addressed the media, there was little left for the Spurs to do but settle in for the night. They'd already taken care of business in Salt Lake City. And their best player had given them plenty to feel good about.

They didn't need a reminder of Wembanyama's offensive prowess, but they got one.

"It's definitely satisfying," Wembanyama said. "We're going to face a bunch of different scenarios in this season. And we had the answer for today, so that's all we can ask for."