Jabari Smith Jr. will play against Victor Wembanyama for the third time Tuesday night when the Houston Rockets welcome the San Antonio Spurs into the Toyota Center. But as Southwest divisional foes, Smith looks forward to playing against the presumed Rookie of the Year winner for the foreseeable future.
"It's a challenge," Smith said. "This is something I can tell my kids about. How it was playing against him when he first got in the league and seeing the progression of him and competing against him."
The Rockets and Spurs split their first two regular-season meetings. And in each respective victory, Smith and Wembanyama got the best of one another.
Smith had a rough night in his first meeting against Wembanyama, who recorded his first 20-point game in a 126-122 overtime win over the Rockets on Oct. 27.
The Rockets contained Wembanyama through the first three quarters. They held a 98-93 lead with six minutes left in the fourth quarter when Wembanyama completed an And-1 dunk over Smith to ignite a comeback victory. He finished with a then-career-high 21 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and three blocks inside the Frost Bank Center.
A month later, Smith pulled down 12 rebounds to help the Rockets take an 11-point victory over the Spurs. The highlight of the game came midway through the second quarter when Smith bodied Wembanyama while attacking downhill to complete a contested layup.
But since their previous meeting on Dec. 11, both players have taken their games to new heights.
Smith has since averaged 17.0 points and 13.5 rebounds over the last five games. His best performance came amid the Rockets' 114-110 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 23. He finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds in the win.
Wembanyama hasn't scored less than 20 points over his previous nine games, averaging 24.2 points, 10.9 rebounds and 4.9 blocks. The French phenom is coming off arguably his best-career performance to lead the Spurs to a 117-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers Sunday night. He posted 31 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and half a dozen blocks.
"He is in a great system with [Gregg] Popovich; just him learning the game, he is naturally going to get better," Smith said. "I am sure the game has slowed down for him. He is definitely going to be a great player."
After a nine-day stretch where the Rockets battled the Suns and Oklahoma City Thunder, Wembanyama will be the fourth 7-foot versatile big man Smith will have to face. But Smith says Wembanyama is different to compete against, given that he is "taller" than Bol Bol, Kevin Durant and Chet Holmgren.
Despite his unique skill set, Wembanyama's play-hard mentality has been the top attribute that has stood out to Smith during their first two career meetings.
"His talent and uniqueness, it is the kind of stuff you've never seen before," Smith said. "I've been getting a feel for him to make it tough on him...People see his frame and think he is kind of skinny. But he plays hard. He crashes [the boards], playing to win. He plays hard and plays the right way."
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