Most blocks in an NBA Playoffs game and other records Victor Wembanyama could own this year

The San Antonio Spurs dropped Game 1 at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Victor Wembanyama still made history. In just his sixth career playoff game, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year blocked 12 shots, along with 11 points and 15 rebounds, earning the rare triple-double that didn't include assists. He would almost certainly have rather gotten the win, but the Spurs still have a great chance to get to the NBA Finals and Wemby has another notch on his historic resume.

Wemby's 12 blocks were a single-game NBA Playoffs record, leapfrogging a three-way tie between some seriously notable names that hasn't been matched in more than a decade.

Most blocks in an NBA Playoffs game

We've seen nine blocks in a playoff game 11 times, accomplished by 10 different players. (Dwight Howard did it twice). However, the regular season mark for blocks in a single game is something entirely different.

Wembanyama's 12-block game wouldn't make the top-10 all-time list for the regular season but they were still a career-high — he's recored 10 blocks twice in regular season games. But, given that Wemby is still just 22 and getting his first taste of postseason experience, his Game 1 performance speaks to his potential to break all sorts of postseason records for blocked shots.

Most blocks in a single postseason: The record currently belongs to Hakeem Olajuwon, who blocked 92 shots during the Rockets' championship run in 1994. This mark may be untouchable, considering the next closest is Tim Duncan with 79 in 2003. Getting anywhere close would require the Spurs making the Finals and dropping some games along the way to make sure Wemby plays as many games as possible — Olajuwon and the Rockets played 23 games during that postseason, with two different series that went the full seven. Still, Wemby has blocked an average 5.6 shots per game so far this postseason, and Olajuwon only blocked 4.0 during that run. If the Spurs go the distance, Wemby could absolutely get there.

Most blocks per game averaged in a single postseason: Wemby is averaging an insane 5.6 blocks per game so far this postseason but still trails several players for this record — Mark Eaton with 5.8 in 1985, Manute Bol with 5.8 in 1986, Hakeem Olajuwon with 5.75 in 1990 and Dikembe Mutumbo with 5.75 in 1994. However, that's a razor-thin margin. Just one extra block in the games he's played so far would have him tied with Eaton and Bol. Working against him, is the fact that those astronomical marks were in some part a product of small sample sizes. Mutumbo played two series and 12 games, but the other three marks were set in a single series, in five games or less. If the Spurs advance, Wemby may be battling some regression to the mean.

Most blocks in a single NBA Finals series: This one belongs to Tim Duncan, who blocked 32 shots in the 2003 NBA Finals, a series that only went six games. Basically the Spurs would have to make it to the NBA Finals, play at least six games and have Wemby keep blocking shots at the same rate he is now. Maybe not likely, but certainly not impossible.

Most blocks in an NBA Finals game: If the Spurs do make it to the NBA Finals, this one should absolutely be in play. Dwight Howard currently holds the record with nine, set in the 2009 NBA Finals against the Lakers. Five other players — Duncan, Shaq, Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and Bill Walton — have blocked at least eight shots in a Finals game. Wembanyama has now blocked nine or more shots six times in his career. On the NBA's brightest stage, it wouldn't be a shock to seem him push for the record.

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