Key Points
- Spurs win 118-91 to extend the Western Conference Finals to a winner-take-all Game 7 Saturday in Oklahoma City
- Victor Wembanyama posts 28 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals on 4-of-9 from 3 in 28 minutes
- San Antonio holds Oklahoma City scoreless for 7:27 during a 20-0 third-quarter run, with 11 points coming while Wembanyama rests
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finishes 15 points on 6-of-18, the longest 40%-or-worse stretch of his career since the 2021-22 season
The San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-91 at Frost Bank Center on Thursday to force a Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals. The series returns to Oklahoma City on Saturday for the winner-take-all game; the survivor opens the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks next week.
Wembanyama answered the warning
Victor Wembanyama finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals on 4-of-9 from three-point range in 28 minutes — a clean response to the series-low 20-point performance in Game 5 that earned him an NBA media warning earlier in the day. He paced the Spurs from the opening tip and was on the bench by the time the result was no longer in question.
The third quarter ended it
San Antonio outscored Oklahoma City 32-13 in the third quarter and opened a 20-0 run that held the defending champions scoreless for 7 minutes, 27 seconds. Eleven of those points came with Wembanyama on the bench — bench production has been the Thunder's pattern through this series, and it flipped tonight. Dylan Harper had 17 points off the Spurs' bench; Stephon Castle put up 17 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds.
SGA's longest cold stretch since 2021-22
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting (33.3%). Per ESPN, that is the longest stretch of games shooting 40% or worse he has put together since the 2021-22 season — a four-year-old comparable that shows up only in elimination-level Spurs defense. San Antonio's coverage on him through the second half was the kind of work coach Mitch Johnson had asked for after the Game 5 loss.
Game 7 Saturday
Game 7 is Saturday in Oklahoma City. The Thunder are the defending champions and the top seed in the West. The Spurs are the lower seed; the series is tied 3-3 after San Antonio took Games 4 and 6. Whoever wins Saturday opens the Finals against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden next week. San Antonio has since committed to Wembanyama as the centerpiece of that future, signing him to a $252 million extension to keep him in a Spurs uniform through the next decade.
Source: ESPN. Wembanyama stat line and third-quarter detail via Yahoo Sports.
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