The San Antonio Spurs commenced the NBA’s Conference finals with a double-overtime victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the defending champions. The Spurs won 122-115. The match-up features Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Wembanyama’s Historic Performance
Victor Wembanyama delivered a 40-20 performance. Wembanyama’s alley-oop dunk with 22 seconds remaining in the second period of overtime increased the Spurs’ lead to six. He finished with 41 points and 24 rebounds. At 22 years and 134 days old, Wembanyama is the youngest player in NBA history to reach 40 points and 20 rebounds in a play-off game. He joins Wilt Chamberlain (1960) as the only players to achieve this on their Conference finals debut.
“He has a rare desire to step into every moment that’s in front of him,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of the 2023 first overall draft pick. “I think he has showed in his three years in a lot of different situations with a lot of different circumstances that he’s going to attack those moments. He has some rare God-given ability.”
Thunder’s First Playoff Loss
San Antonio’s rookie guard Dylan Harper claimed 24 points and 11 rebounds. The Thunder suffered their first loss of the play-offs, having swept the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers in the previous two rounds.
- Alex Caruso led the top seeds with 31 points off the bench.
- Jalen Williams added 26.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander claimed 24 points and 12 assists.
“We knew it was going to be a dog fight,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who received his MVP award before the game. “We’ve just got to be better, me in particular.”
Looking Ahead
Game two is also in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. The New York Knicks open the Eastern finals at home to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.