Western Conference Finals Game 6: Four Takeaways From Victor Wembanyama’s Massive Effort to Force Game 7

It’s not over yet, folks.

Facing elimination in Game 6, Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs produced a performance that looked far beyond the youth they brought into these playoffs. The Thunder were able to keep things relatively close through the first half before an astonishing run in the third quarter put the game away and signaled to the world that we were heading to a Game 7 on Saturday.

Wembanyama was electric, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked mortal, and the result was a 118–91 win for the Spurs.

Here are our four takeaways from Game 6 of the Western Conference finals as we prepare for Game 7 on Saturday night.

Victor Wembanyama answered the bell

Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama dribbles the ball against the Thunder. | Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

Entering the game, many questioned how Wembanyama would fare in his first elimination game. The 22-year-old had never faced that level of pressure during his NBA career. It’s safe to say he handled it with aplomb. The Spurs’ center was engaged from the jump, hitting two three-pointers during a 9–2 start for his team. His dominance stretched through the rest of the game.

Wembanyama had 11 points and five rebounds in the first quarter, and 11 more points in the second. His 22 at the half were a game-high, and he did it in 17 minutes of work. By the time the third quarter rolled around, the rest of the team had caught up, and San Antonio dominated without Wemby needing to be at his best.

He finished the contest with 28 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, three blocks and two steals in only 28 minutes. He barely played in the fourth quarter as the Spurs had things well in hand.

The Spurs will need that version of their star on Saturday in Game 7. If they get him, they could be headed to their first NBA Finals in more than a decade.

The Spurs finally figured out how to survive, and even thrive, with Wemby on the bench

Spurs guard Dylan Harper reacts against the Thunder. | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

Throughout the Western Conference finals, the Spurs had struggled to stay competitive when Wembanyama was not on the floor. When Wemby hits the bench, it’s almost always a man-for-man swap with the team’s other big, Luke Kornet, and through the first five games of this series, Kornet had a plus/minus of -52. His best individual game was a -6.

Plus/minus is far from a perfect metric, but those numbers paint a pretty clear picture of how things were going.

On Thursday night, Kornet and the Spurs flipped the script with two massive stretches that changed the course of the game. In the first quarter, Wembanyama first checked out with the Spurs holding a 14–13 lead. When he checked back in for the last minute of the quarter, that lead had extended to 30–22.

Even more impressive was the third quarter. On several occasions, the Thunder were a shot away from making it a one-score game until a massive 20–0 run from San Antonio put the game out of reach. Wembanyama was riding the pine for the majority of that run. The Spurs held the reigning champions scoreless for basically seven minutes of game time, and four of those minutes came with the Defensive Player of the Year on the bench.

There were several heroes in the non-Wemby minutes. First and foremost, huge credit to Kornet, who finally ended a game with a plus/minus in the positive digits at +13—same as Wembanyama. Additionally, it was rookie guard Dylan Harper who was playing conductor for the offense during both of those stretches, and he finished with an incredible 18 points, six rebounds and four assists in 22 minutes off the bench.

That success might be hard to replicate in Game 7 in Oklahoma City, but if they can get even a decent fraction of that production from their second unit on Saturday, the Spurs are going to be tough to beat.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was off, and the Thunder fell with him

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reacts against the Spurs. | Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

The reigning two-time MVP turned in one of his worst performances of the season in Game 6, and it impacted the rest of the roster. Gilgeous-Alexander struggled with the Spurs’ swarming defense as multiple players attacked him all night. Even rookie Carter Bryant took a turn guarding SGA. The result was huge for San Antonio as the Thunder’s star never really got going.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s line is ugly. He finished with a season-low 15 points, one rebound and four assists, while going 6-for-18 from the field and 0-for-5 from three-point range. Crucially, he wasn’t able to draw fouls and only took three trips to the free-throw line. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with a game-worst plus/minus of -28.

With their star struggling, the rest of Oklahoma City’s roster couldn’t find a way to step up. Fellow star Jalen Williams returned from injury but only scored a single point in 10 minutes off the bench. Playoff hero Jared McCain was also largely bottled up—he finished with 13 points, but eight of those came in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.

If the Thunder want to win Game 7, they need their MVP to revert to form.

Oklahoma City isn’t going to shoot that poorly again in Game 7

Thunder guard Luguentz Dort shoots against the Spurs. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Oklahoma City’s shooting was atrocious throughout Game 6. The Thunder were 35-for-95 from the field (36.8%), and 10-for-40 from three-point range (25%). A word of caution for the Spurs: that won’t happen in Game 7.

The shooting woes were spread throughout the team. Gilgeous-Alexander, Lueguentz Dort, Chet Holmgren and Jaylin Williams combined to go 1-for-19 from deep. Dort was 2-for-11 from the field, McCain missed seven shots and SGA missed 12. It was truly a horrid performance, but likely a one-off.

Entering Game 6, the Thunder were shooting 48.0% from the field and 37.6% from three-point range in the postseason. The Spurs played outstanding defense on Thursday night, but Oklahoma City was just off all the way around. It wasn’t the kind of game they usually play, and San Antonio should be prepared for a reversion to the mean in Game 7.

Relive the action as it happened with our live coverage of Game 6 below

How we got here …

The Western Conference finals have taken several turns to get to this point. Here’s a breakdown of where we’ve been so far:

Game 1: Spurs 122, Thunder 115 (2OT)
Game 2: Thunder 122, Spurs 113
Game 3: Thunder 123, Spurs 108
Game 4: Spurs 103, Thunder 82
Game 5: Thunder 127, Spurs 114

Throughout the entire NBA season, it always felt like the West would come down to the Thunder and Spurs. Oklahoma City was the unquestionable top dog in the NBA, but the Spurs proved more than capable of besting them on multiple occasions, going 4–1 against the Thunder in the regular season.

In the playoffs, things have been a bit different. The Thunder blew through the first two rounds of the postseason with sweeps against the Suns and Lakers, while the Spurs needed five games to dispatch the Trail Blazers and six to advance against the Timberwolves.

Maybe those extra miles have caught up with the Spurs, or maybe the team’s inexperience in the postseason finally caught up with them a bit once they were facing off against the reigning champions, or maybe the Thunder are just that good. Whatever the reason, the Thunder have had the edge thus far this series.

If not for a miraculous shot from Wembanyama in Game 1, there’s a chance this series would already be over. Instead, the Spurs have the chance to fight for their lives, needing two straight wins against the best team in basketball to reach the first Finals of this new era of the franchise. No pressure.

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