SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama shot out the cannon like a man possessed.

A screen by Stephon Castle prepped the ammo. Wembanyama's two strides in the lane, long enough to take him from the 3-point line to the basket, lit the fuse. He fired.

By the time Rudy Gobert realized what was happening, his protégé had blown by him and Ayo Dosunmu for a one-armed dunk that punctuated his 16-point first-quarter.

Whichever of the two characters the Frenchman was playing Tuesday night seemed to work. Both sides of his persona in Game 5 were spoken for: "Upset Vic" needed to make up ground after being ejected in Game 4 for elbowing Naz Reid, while "Mature Vic" knew playing too emotionally could result in another loss for the San Antonio Spurs.

Mitch Johnson coined the latter moniker; he felt it was appropriate following San Antonio's 29-point blowout over the Minnesota Timberwolves that night.

"I think the way that young man came out tonight," the Spurs' coach said, "in a variety of situations, not just in terms of…