How unlikely was it that Sandro Mamukelashvili would be the player who’d make NBA scoring history? Through his first seven games in March, the reserve San Antonio Spurs big man scored a combined 36 points. In a 120-105 victory vs. the New York Knicks, Mamukelashvili scored 34. He did it under 19:26 minutes of playing time. It’s the most points an NBA player has ever scored while playing less than 20 minutes.
“It’s been a hell of a ride, just up and down, just staying ready,” the 25-year-old forward/center said.
“Mamu” hit every one of the seven three-pointers he took, missing just one shot the entire night. Combine his only free throw with all of his field goals, and Mamukelashvili found the net on 14 of his 15 attempts.
In setting the NBA mark, Mamukelashvili became the fourth player in league history to score at least 30 in less than 20 total minutes in a game. The other three are or have been stars throughout their careers. Kevin Durant had 30 in such a game while Kevin Love and Jaylen Brown have poured in 32 and 33 respectively. They all now lag behind the 6-foot-9 New York City native who’s gone stretches without even getting in a game.
“I feel like everybody comes to me and tells me, ‘There was a minute left and we saw you, your face was red, going hard.’ You cannot waste an NBA minute,” Mamu shared. “Nothing is guaranteed, nothing is promised. It’s the every day grind you’ve got to go through mental and physical. Sometimes, you’re out of the rotation, sometimes you’re in the rotation, sometimes you play at the end of the game.”
Spurs postgame
Sandro Mamukelashvili finds out he missed a shot in tonight’s win vs the #Knicks (13/14) AND learns that he’s the first player in #NBA history to score 34 points in under 20 mins…
“Damn, I thought I was perfect”
And
“Wow….wow”
#Spurs #PorVida #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/HxDtPks2ry
— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) March 20, 2025
Sandro Mamukelashvili rejoices thanks to a special night
That victory vs. the Knicks marked the Spurs 68th game of the season. Mamukelashvili hasn’t played in 21 of those contests. When he does play, he averages nine minutes. None of it mattered against the team that represents the city in which he was born, though Mamu grew up in Tbilisi, Georgia and Italy.
It was a night so unique that his long-time friend, hip hop artist Flavor Flav, was in attendance at the Frost Bank Center.
The 2021 Big East co-Player of the Year didn’t disappoint. By the time he notched his 15th point, Mamukelashvili had registered a season high. He would add 19 more before things had settled. Though, at roughly 19 and a half minutes, it’s not as if he spent most of the game on the floor. That aspect, wasn’t foreign to Mamu.
“As soon as you put your head down, as soon as you feel defeated, that’s when your days start to count down. I’m trying to get better, I’m trying to establish myself. I’m trying to show that I belong,” the Seton Hall alumnus said.
Mamukelashvili’s 19 minutes vs. the Knicks were the most he’s logged since the Spurs last game of February, when he played 20 at the Houston Rockets in a 118-106 loss. He scored 12 that night. Though Houston is just a two and a half hour drive from San Antonio, it may seem like light years away as far as Mamu’s concerned.
Historically different, in fact.
The post Why historic night was long time coming for little used Spurs reserve appeared first on ClutchPoints.
