Game 1’s incredible finish has set up possibly a series for the ages featuring the best two teams in the Western Conference.
SAN ANTONIO — In what many people are calling the best playoff game they’ve ever watched, the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder to take a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals on Monday night.
It took two overtime periods, but the Spurs defeated the defending champions 122-115. Victor Wembanyama, at just 22, had one of the greatest playoff performances you’ll ever see:
- 41 points (playoff career-high)
- Tied for second-most in a conference finals debut
- 24 rebounds (career-high)
- Nine offensive rebounds (career-high)
- 14-25 from the field (56%)
- 1-2 from 3-point range
- 12-13 from the free throw line
- Three blocks
- 49 minutes (career-high)
- +16 plus/minus (highest in the game)
He also became the youngest player to ever record 40 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game (along with Charles Barkley, Moses Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
To top it off, Wemby made the biggest shot of the game that silence the crowd at Paycom Center: a logo 3-pointer to tie the game in OT with 26 seconds left… at 7’4″. It was reminiscent of Stephen Curry’s game-winning shot taken at the same spot 10 years ago… also in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder might have to ban shooting from that part in the arena.
This crazy Wemby performance came the same night that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received his second straight MVP award, a race that Wemby finished third in.
Wembanyama said watching his opponent receive the award definitely motivated him.
“Feels like I still got a lot to learn,” Wemby said when asked about Gilgeous-Alexander receiving the award. “And I want to get that trophy many times in my career.”
In turn, the MVP struggled in this performance:
- 24 points
- 7-23 shooting from the field
- 2-7 shooting from 3-point range
- Three rebounds
- 12 assists
- Five steals
- Four turnovers
- 51 minutes
- -15 plus/minus (worst in the game)
It’s safe to say the Canadian has definitely had better nights, but to submit this performance on the same evening that he won his second straight MVP while the third-place finisher had one of the best playoff performances in league history was definitely rough.
It’s reminiscent of a ’90s rivalry also including the Spurs, but in reverse.
In 1995, David Robinson of the Spurs won his first and only MVP Award. That season, The Admiral averaged 27.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks on a 62-win San Antonio squad (much like this one).
The day he received the award was the same day they played the Houston Rockets and Hakeem Olajuwon in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. Olajuwon, who won MVP the year prior, believed he should’ve won his second straight after averaging 27.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.4 blocks on a 47-win Rockets team.
While the stats were similar, the Spurs won 15 more games, so Robinson had the edge. In fact, Olajuwon finished fifth in voting, also trailing Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone and Patrick Ewing in the race.
Robinson received the award before Game 2. Olajuwon took it personally, scoring 41 points (like Wemby), while grabbing 16 rebounds and shooting 18-31 from the field in a 106-96 Rockets win.
Robinson wasn’t too shabby either, scoring 32 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and shooting 10-18 from the field. But it was the Rockets who had the last laugh, taking a 2-0 lead in the series. Houston would eventually eliminate San Antonio, 4-2, en route to winning their second straight championship.
This time the Spurs are on the other side of this coin, as Wemby is the one with the last laugh (for now) with his historic performance over Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder.
Sharing the (offensive) love
Despite all the attention on the Frenchman, mostly everyone on the Spurs did their job in Game 1.
Shortly before the game, it was announced that starting point guard De’Aaron Fox would miss the game as he dealt with right ankle soreness.
The 28-year-old All-Star point guard is third on the team in scoring this postseason, with 18.8 points a game, and second in assists with 5.8 per matchup.
Starting in his place was rookie Dylan Harper, who is averaging 13.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while coming off the bench.
In his first career playoff start, the rookie did not disappoint.
The 20-year-old scored 24 points (tied for his career-high), grabbed 11 rebounds (a career-high), dished out six assists and stole the ball seven times (a Spurs playoff record and a career-high).
While Harper’s shot wasn’t falling (8-20 from the field and 1-7 from 3-point range), he found other ways to make his mark, including hitting all seven of his free throw attempts, some of those in the clutch. He also had the second-best plus/minus in the game with +14.
Timely buckets from Devin Vassell (13 points), Julian Champagnie (11 points) and Keldon Johnson (13 points) also helped pace the game en route to a Spurs win.
The only person who really struggled was Stephon Castle, who ironically has been playing the best of any Spurs player this playoff run. Castle had 17 points but shot 5-14 from the field, including making just one of his six 3-point attempts. He added six rebounds and 11 assists but also turned the ball over 11 times, one shy of the NBA playoff record.
But the one thing that makes Castle valuable even when he’s struggling offensively is his defense. He was in charge for the most part in stopping Gilgeous-Alexander, who may have scored 24 points, but that’s down from his season average of 31.1 and playoff average of 29.1. He was also held to four points in the first half on 1-5 shooting.
I’d also expect Castle, normally calm and collected, to correct his sloppiness going forward, as he’s proven himself to be a player who can adapt.
On Oklahoma City’s side, only three players scored in double digits: Gilgeous-Alexander (24 points), Jalen Williams (26 points) and Alex Caruso (31 points).
Thunder fans are accustomed to Shai and Williams being the top scorers, but Oklahoma City truly had a special performance from Caruso.
Not only did he score the first seven points for the Thunder, but his career also high before Game 1 was 23. He had 31 and was the leading scorer for a team who has a two-time MVP. He also set a new career high in 3-pointers made with eight. If that game was your first time watching basketball, you might’ve thought that Caruso was the best player on the defending champions.
But it wasn’t enough, as a lot of the other Thunder players struggled mightily.
Chet Holmgren, despite his game-saving block on Wemby at the end of regulation, had one of his worst statistical playoff games of his career. He finished with eight points on 2-7 shooting, 2-4 from 3-point range, eight rebounds, a steal and two blocks. For perspective, he averaged 17.1 points and 7 rebounds this season.
This is par for the course for Holmgren against the Spurs; in their five regular-season games, the first time All-Star averaged only 10.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.
Starting center Isaiah Hartenstein was also a non-factor, only playing 12 minutes and scoring just two points, grabbing two rebounds and blocking two shots.
Lu Dort (five points), Ajay Mitchell (four points), Jared McCain (seven points) and Cason Wallace (eight points) all had their moments, but were unable to truly break out against this Spurs defense. Mitchell especially grappled, as he came into the game averaging almost 19 points in the playoffs.
Despite their struggles, the Thunder still almost beat the Spurs, forcing two overtimes and eventually just ran out of gas by the end.
That sets up Game 2, and with both teams sure to make adjustments, it could be anyone’s game. The Thunder are defending champions for a reason, and a part of that is the adjustments that head coach Mark Daigneault makes. You saw that at the beginning of Game 1 when he limited the minutes of Hartenstein when he was struggling to contain Wemby, and putting in Caruso who was playing well on both ends of the court.
You also can’t expect Caruso to have the game he had in Game 1, as he was having a truly out of this world performance. The same can be said reciprocally about Gilgeous-Alexander, who follows up bad performances strongly in his past playoff runs.
On the Spurs’ side, with Fox’s health still up in the air, the question is whether this level of play from Harper can continue. He’s shown flashes all year and now that he’s getting the minutes, this version of the rookie could be the Harper we see from now on.
As we said earlier, you’d also expect Castle to play better and cough up the ball 11 times. Sprinkle in solid play from Johnson, Champagnie and Vassell, and that’s a recipe for another Spurs win in Oklahoma City.
But will the defending champions allow that? Only time will tell.
All we know is that Game 1 was a game for the ages, possibly setting up a Western Conference Finals for the ages.
If you’re like us at KENS 5, you can’t wait for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
