Wembanyama has 32 points, 12 rebounds in return from one-game absence as Spurs top Hornets 115-102

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had 32 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks in his return from a one-game absence, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 115-102 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.

Miles Bridges had 22 points and Kon Knueppel added 20 for Charlotte, which had won two straight and eight of 10.

The Spurs have won 17 of 19 to tighten their grip on second in the Western Conference. San Antonio (49-18) is 7 1/2 games ahead of No. 3 Houston (41-25) and three games behind Oklahoma City (52-15) for first.

The Spurs closed their longest homestand 5-1, with their only loss coming as Wembanyama watched from the bench because of a sore right calf in a 136-131 loss to Denver on Thursday that snapped a five-game winning streak.

Wembanyama had an immediate impact with 18 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals in the first half.

Wembanyama lost possession on an alley-oop pass and hit the rim on his dunk attempt but he regained control for a follow-up slam that put the Spurs up by nine points a minute into the second quarter.

Wembanyama finished 13 for 24 from the field and 5 for 10 on 3-pointers. He is shooting 46.9% on 3-pointers in his last five games, going 23 for 49.

LaMelo Ball was 4 for 10 on 3-pointers, including a 27-foot runner that gave Charlotte its only lead at 13-10 with 9:50 remaining in the first quarter. Julian Champagnie tied the game 15 seconds later with his only 3-pointer of the game and San Antonio never trailed again.

Ball finished with 17 points.

Hornets: Host Miami on Tuesday night.

Spurs: At Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) drives to the basket against Charlotte Hornets forward Grant Williams (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) dunks over Charlotte Hornets forward Grant Williams (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant (11) scores over Charlotte Hornets guard Coby White (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) celebrates a score during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets in San Antonio, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) celebrates a score with teammate Stephon Castle (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets in San Antonio, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market steadied itself Thursday after absorbing big swings for Nvidia’s stock and oil prices. The moves suggested Wall Street sees limited fallout for the artificial intelligence industry, which carries immense influence on the market, despite the sudden fall of one of its biggest evangelists.

After dropping nearly 1% at the start of trading, the S&P 500 erased all of the loss and then drifted between small gains and losses before dipping 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 88 points, or 0.2%, with an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was down 0.5% after trimming an early drop of 1.6%.

At the center of the swings was Nvidia's stock. It plunged 14% at the start of trading following the resignation of Jensen Huang, its CEO, co-founder and face of the brand. The chip company’s stock has been sinking since its board announced an investigation into Huang for a relationship with a woman suspected of being a Chinese government agent.

It’s a stunning fall for Huang and for Nvidia, which had become Wall Street’s most valuable and influential stock because of its central role in the AI boom. Its stock price set a record last month after soaring an astounding 1,722% in four years. That compares with the already healthy gain of nearly 109% for the overall S&P 500 over the same time.

But Nvidia’s price dropped 27% from then through Wednesday on worries about whether Huang would remain as CEO and how Nvidia would navigate a future without him. Nvidia’s board answered the first question Thursday morning, when it said Huang resigned, and it named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as its interim CEO.

The second question remains unanswered. And it looms over the entire market because Nvidia and the broader AI industry have been the main reasons the U.S. stock market has set so many records in recent years.

Nvidia, to be sure, is still selling AI chips at a quick rate regardless of who stands on a stage and talks them up, and analysts said it remains the industry's leader. That helped Nvidia quickly halve its early loss Thursday, and its stock was most recently down 5.4%. That paring helped the broader market to recover.

Outside of Nvidia, stocks across the AI industry swung in the uncertainty.

CoreWeave, which buys Nvidia chips and then rents out access to them to customers over the cloud, fell 8.2%. Micron Technology, which sells memory for computers that’s been getting gobbled up in the AI frenzy, sank 2.1%.

But Broadcom rose 5.2%, and Advanced Micro Devices added 5.9% on hopes the rival chip companies will gain a competitive advantage. Those two gains came close to offsetting the drop for Nvidia, which was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500. That suggests investors see the AI business expanding to other players rather than depending solely on Nvidia.

Demonstrating how much uncertainty was washing through the market was GE Vernova, which is helping to power AI data centers. It flipped from an early loss of 3% to a gain of 1.7%.

Also helping to limit the U.S. market's losses were gains for stocks in the oil and gas industry. Marathon Petroleum climbed 3.2%, and Exxon Mobil added 2.3%.

They benefited from a rise in oil prices after President Donald Trump said he’s no longer interested in a deal with Iran to end their war. Instead of that, Trump said he asked his vice president to investigate U.S. cities and states run by Democrats.

“We don’t need a deal with Iran,” Trump said. “Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!”

The price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 3.3% to $95.82. The price for the most actively traded contract in the Brent market has been veering sharply since the United States and Israel began the war with Iran in late February, bouncing between roughly $70 and $120.

Higher oil prices push up worries about inflation, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 5.10% from 4.98% late Tuesday. Trading in the bond market had been closed Wednesday for Veterans Day.

Higher yields make borrowing money more expensive for everyone, from the U.S. government to companies building AI data centers to regular people buying houses. High mortgage rates helped send sales of previously occupied U.S. homes in October to their slowest pace in more than 16 years.

The housing industry has been slowing the U.S. economy but not upending it. A separate report on Thursday said that slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, but the number remains relatively low compared with history.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following a weaker finish in Asia.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.3% for one of the world’s biggest moves.

AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to show the highest price for the most actively traded contract in the Brent oil market since the war with Iran was nearly $120 per barrel.

A screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays news about Nvidia's stock price in New York, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A person looks at an electronic display board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks below a huge screen, displaying the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

The screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) is seen in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)