Wemby, Spurs facing off against reigning NBA champions in Western Conference Finals | What to know for Game 1

SAN ANTONIO — For the first time since 2017, the San Antonio Spurs will be playing in the Western Conference Finals.

Their second straight blowout of the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 6 has now set up a highly anticipated matchup with the defending NBA champions: the Oklahoma City Thunder.

If there’s been a team more impressive than the Spurs this playoff run, it’s the Thunder, who have not lost a game this postseason following sweeps of the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers in their first two rounds.

In those eight games, Oklahoma City has beat their opponents by 16.6 points a game, more than San Antonio’s 14.5 points a game.

The Thunder cruised through the regular season, finishing with a record of 64-18 claiming the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

However, the one team they didn’t “cruise” by in the regular season were the Spurs.

The only teams to beat the Thunder twice this season were the Timberwolves and Suns (who they swept in the first round).

Oh yeah, and the Spurs beat them a whopping four times across the regular season, including the NBA Cup tournament.

And these weren’t just wins, they were by a decent margin.

The first matchup was an NBA Cup game on Dec. 13, resulting in a two-point win for the Spurs. However, the next two matchups on Dec. 23 and Christmas were Spurs wins by 20 and 15 respectively, moving the season series to 3-0 in the Spurs favor.

The next game was a 21-point Thunder win, but the final matchup on Feb. 2 was a 10-point Spurs win, meaning San Antonio won the season series 4-1.

And with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning his second MVP Award Sunday over Victor Wembanyama, I’m sure there’s extra motivation on Wemby’s mind going into this marquee matchup.

Let’s go through all five games these two teams played in the regular season.

The first time these two teams played was in the NBA Cup semifinals. The Thunder were 24-1 looking dominant in the early season while the Spurs were 17-7.

Victor Wembanyama made his return to the lineup after missing the last month of the season due to injury. Off the bench in 21 minutes, Wemby scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds en route to a close Spurs win 111-109. 

Three other Spurs scored more than 20 points (Devin Vassell: 23, De’Aaron Fox: 22, Stephon Castle: 22). Meanwhile Gilgeous-Alexander scored a team-high 29 points while Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams both scored 17.

Spurs lead season series 1-0.

The second matchup between these two teams came ten days later on Dec. 23. That one was much more of a statement win for San Antonio, 130-110.

Keldon Johnson led the way off the bench, scoring 25 points in 22 minutes. Wemby also came off the bench, and in limited minutes scored 12 points. Stephon Castle put up 24 and Harrison Barnes scored 20. The Spurs shot 16/36 from 3-point range for 44% shooting.

For Oklahoma City, every starter played, they just struggled. Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t, scoring 33 points on 14-22 from the field, but Jalen Williams (17 points) and Chet Holmgren (7 points) both had underwhelming games.

Spurs lead season series 2-0.

Two days later, it was a Christmas feast for the Spurs, beating the Thunder 117-102, their second straight win by double digits.

Wembanyama, in his third game off the bench against the Thunder, scored 19 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. De’Aaron Fox had a very strong game scoring 29 points on 12/19 shooting from the field. Stephon Castle also had a highly efficient 19 points with seven assists.

For OKC, it was a mundane game for MVP Shai, “only” scoring 22 points on 7/19 shooting from the field, finishing with a team-worst -15 plus/minus. Jalen Williams (12 points) and Chet Holmgren (10 points) also struggled offensively.

Spurs lead season series 3-0.

The Thunder finally got in the win column against the Spurs on Jan. 13, dominating 119-98. This was the Spurs’ second worst loss margin of the season.

Wemby, who had his first start against the Thunder this season, finished with a pedestrian 17 points and seven rebounds. The leading scorer was Stephon Castle who scored 20 points while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing eight assists.

Shai came to play, scoring 34 points. Jalen Williams also contributed 20 points, but Chet Holmgren struggled again with only eight points.

The Thunder’s largest lead was 24 points.

Spurs lead season series 3-1.

The fifth and final game between these two 60-win teams came on Feb. 4 at the Frost Bank Center. The Spurs won their fourth game against the Thunder 116-106, another double-digit victory over the defending champs.

Wemby had his best game of the season against OKC, scoring 22 points while grabbing 14 rebounds. Keldon Johnson off the bench had another 25-point game. De’Aaron Fox had a 15-point, 10-assist double-double, while Stephon Castle had 14 points.

Most of the Thunder, including Shai, did not play in this game however. Kenrich Williams (25 points), Jaylin Williams (24 points and 12 rebounds) and Aaron Wiggins (20 points, six assists and five steals) led the way.

The Spurs’ largest lead of the game was 22 points while the Thunder never led.

Spurs win season series 4-1.

Here’s some of the Spurs’ averages across the five games against the Thunder:

• Victor Wembanyama: 18.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks in 25.1 minutes a game
• Stephon Castle: 19.8 points, 4.8 assists, 4.0 rebounds
• De’Aaron Fox: 17.2 points, 6.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds
• Devin Vassell: 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists

Aside from Castle, everyone’s stats have actually gone down against the Thunder. Wemby’s 25 points went down to 18.4, albeit he was dealing with injuries for most of those games.

Speaking of Castle, with his hot shooting in Game 6 of the Timberwolves series, I’d expect him to have a big series against the Thunder as he’s shown evidence that he has his way with OKC.

And with De’Aaron Fox’s health in question, they might have to rely on him and Dylan Harper more anyway.

In turn, here are some of the Thunder players’ stats across the five games against the Spurs:

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 29.5 points, 5.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds
• Jalen Williams: 16.5 points, 5.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds
• Chet Holmgren: 10.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks
• Isaiah Hartenstein: 10.3 points, 11 rebounds, 1.3 assists

Aside from Hartenstein, everyone on the Thunder’s stats have gone down playing the Spurs, especially Holmgren, whose stats go from 17.1 points and 7 rebounds to 10.5 points and 8 rebounds.

Another factor to keep an eye on is Jalen Williams’ health. He’s not on the injury report as of Sunday evening, but he’s only played in two of the Thunder’s eight playoff games so far, and has missed the last six games. When healthy, he’s an all star, but this season he just hasn’t been healthy.

The Spurs dominated the regular season against the defending champs, but will that translate in the playoffs? This Thunder team has championship experience, which the Spurs lack.

Then again, so has all the other teams the Spurs have beaten.

With Shai bringing home the MVP over Wemby Sunday, I expect Victor to want some revenge, more than likely thinking he deserved the award over the Canadian.

It’s a show you won’t want to miss.

Game 1 is Monday at 7:30 p.m. on NBC.

The game will be televised on NBC and streamed on Peacock. You can also listen to game action on WOAI 1200 and KXTN 1350. 

• POINTS: Victor Wembanyama (20.3), Stephon Castle (19.9), De’Aaron Fox (18.8)
• REBOUNDS: Wembanyama (10.7), Julian Champagnie (5.5), Dylan Harper (5.1)
• ASSISTS: Castle (6.1), Fox (5.8), Devin Vassell (2.8)
• BLOCKS: Wembanyama (4.1), Luke Kornet (1.2), Devin Vassell (0.8)

• POINTS: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (29.1), Jalen Williams (20.5 in two games), Ajay Mitchell (18.8)
• REBOUNDS: Chet Holmgren (9.1), Isaiah Hartenstein (8.8), Williams (4.0)
• ASSISTS: Gilgeous-Alexander (7.1), Williams (5.0), Mitchell (4.9)
• BLOCKS: Holmgren (1.8), Hartenstein (0.9), Gilgeous-Alexander (0.9)

As of 8 p.m. Thursday, here’s where the team’s respective injury reports stack up:

• De’Aaron Fox – Questionable (left foot soreness)
• Luke Kornet – Questionable (right ankle soreness)

Timberwolves

• Thomas Sorber (Out- ACL)