Spurs dominate Thunder to force winner-take-all Game 7

SAN ANTONIO —  Victor Wembanyama had 28 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks and the San Antonio Spurs sent the Western Conference finals back to Oklahoma City for Game 7, routing the Thunder 118-91 on Thursday night.

Game 7 is Saturday night in Oklahoma City, with the winner hosting the New York Knicks on Wednesday night to open the NBA Finals.

Wembanyama and the Spurs responded to a listless 127-114 loss in Game 5 on Tuesday night with their most energized outing of this see-saw series.

Dylan Harper had 18 points, Stephon Castle added 17 and Devin Vassell had 12 points and two thunderous blocks for San Antonio.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was limited to a team-high 15 points on 6-for-18 shooting for defending champion Oklahoma City.

The Thunder were scoreless for eight minutes in the third as the Spurs ran off 22 straight points to make it 92-64 with 56 seconds left in the quarter.

The average margin of victory has been 15.3 points, with the Spurs winning by an average of 18.3 points.

Wembanyama has been at the forefront of all three victories.

The 7-foot-4 star joined Hall of Famers David Robinson and Tim Duncan as the only players in franchise history with five games of 25 points and 10 rebounds in a single postseason.

Wembanyama made his first two shots — both 3-pointers — and blocked Gilgeous-Alexander’s layup in the first 1:27 as San Antonio took a 9-2 lead.

Wembanyama had 11 points, five rebounds an assist and a block in the opening quarter.

The series remained physical and contentious, with the Thunder’s Chet Holmgren jawing with and bumping into Vassell after the Spurs’ wing blocked the 7-footer’s dunk attempt in the second quarter.

Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams returned after reinjuring his hamstring in Game 2 and missing the next three games. Williams was limited to one point on 0-for-1 shooting in 10 minutes.

Holmgren had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Game 6 blog below.

San Antonio dominated OKC and are now just one win away from their first NBA Finals appearance since 2014.

This was the Spurs’ largest playoff victory when facing elimination in franchise history. Victor Wembanyama led all players with a 28-point, 10-rebound, 3-block performance that the team needed to extend the series once more. 

The third frame was the key turning point in the game, when the Spurs finished on a 20-2 run to take command of the game—and grab the momentum in the Western Conference Finals. 

Two threes from Harrison Barnes and strong buckets from Castle led to the Spurs taking their starters less than halfway through the final frame.

OKC began the 4th quarter with most of their starters already on the bench and resting for what looks to be a Game 7 in Oklahoma City.

The Spurs forced OKC to miss 14 shots in a row in over seven minutes of gametime before they made a basket with less than 60 second left in the third frame. 13 points ended up being the Thunder’s lowest scoring quarter of the entire season.

Even though Fox was struggling from the field, the rest of the team picked him up and ended the third quarter on a 20-2 run.

San Antonio’s defense began to compliment their offense as they went on a 13-0 run, not allowing OKC to score a single bucket in nearly four and a half minutes of gametime.

The Spurs followed that up with a challenge of their own after Vassell ran over to the iPads to make sure he got all ball on a called foul against Alex Caruso as he drove to the cup.

That challenge was also successful, leading both teams to have their final challenge available as the game has a chance to come down to the wire.

The Spurs managed to keep their 10-point lead as Fox was finally able to get his toes wet with his frist bucket of the game after starting 0-7 from the field.

But a foul from Fox on the other end forced OKC to use their challenge, and second timeout, less than five minutes into the second half.

The challenge was successful even though Fox could be seen on the broadcast saying, “That’s a crazy call.”

It became an onslaught from behind the arc as half of the Spurs’ made field goals came from three-point land through the first half and some change.

Champagnie began the second half adding a quick five points to his total, outscoring himself from the first half and helping start the Spurs on the right foot early in the 3rd quarter.

Things began to get testy between both squads after Vassell got the crowd on their feet with an emphatic block on Chet Holmgren, setting up the Frost Bank Center for a physical second half.

Wemby knocked down 4-7 from three-point land after going 0-5 in all of Game 5, ending the half with 22 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block.

San Antonio is now in full control of their destiny as this second half will determine if they extend the series to a winner-take-all Game 7 or see their season come to an end.

Despite the Thunder’s hot start, Wembanyama and Dylan Harper kept the Spurs ahead with a combined 11-15 shooting from the field through the first quarter and a half of play.

OKC began the second frame on a 9-7 run, slowly chipping away at the lead before Mitch Johnson called a timeout to slow things down ahead of a deeper run from the Thunder.

San Antonio is plus-21 on points from beyond the arc after one frame; that’s been the difference-maker so far as the Spurs fight with their season on the line. 

Wemby has three of those treys and 11 points total, along with five rebounds. 

San Antonio is out to another hot start, which has become a Silver & Black trademark in these Western Conference Finals. 

They’re especially successful early on from beyond the arc, where the Spurs are 7-for-12 so far, with five different players collecting a make. 

Mitch Johnson said after Game 5 that Victor Wembanyama needed to be more aggressive if the Spurs wanted to force a Game 7. His All-Star has so far answered the call. 

Wembanyama had eight of San Antonio’s first 17 points after going 3-for-4 to start the game, including a pair of 3-pointers. 

Before tipoff at Frost Bank Center, fans made clear they have their team’s back at the most important juncture of the season. Here’s what it looked like at the Spurs’ venue, which erupted into a full-blown party before gametime. 

Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.