Victor Wembanyama Scores 41, Spurs Steal Game 1 From Thunder in Double-OT Thriller

OKLAHOMA CITY — Depending who you ask, the San Antonio Spurs have felt ahead of schedule for quite some time now. Making the Western Conference Finals in their first year with both Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox was proof.

Perhaps more popular was another internal opinion. Harrison Barnes pointed it out back in December, after facing the Oklahoma City Thunder for the first time of the season.

"We're on a collision course with this team," Barnes explained, giving his Spurs enough credit to humor a rivalry with the league's defending champs.

He was right. The first series since the 1998 NBA Finals to feature two 60-plus win teams promised extra physicality and a greater challenge than either had faced in the two rounds of playoffs leading up to their run-in. The first postseason installment delivered.

Without De'Aaron Fox, who was a late scratch with right ankle soreness, the Spurs took a 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals behind Wembanyama's first 40-20 game of his career. The 7-footer logged 41 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks in 49 minutes.

Dylan Harper set a Spurs franchise record with seven steals to go with 24 points, 11 rebounds and six assists; Stephon Castle logged 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Alex Caruso paced the Thunder with 31 points while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams scored 24 and 26 points, respectively. Oklahoma City lost the rebounding battle, despite San Antonio's 23 turnovers, while giving up 52 points in the paint.

From the jump, Wembanyama exerted his defensive will. While Oklahoma City largely avoided trying the Frenchman in the paint, it was forced to make tougher shots away from the rim. Through two quarters, it logged its lowest-scoring half of the season while shooting just 36 percent from the field. Only Alex Caruso made more than one 3-pointer.

Oklahoma City closed the gap after falling behind by seven points at halftime thanks to a barrage of 3s by Chet Holmgren, Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort. Caruso's hot start cooled, but he helped offset Gilgeous-Alexander's offensive struggles entering the fourth quarter.

The Spurs continued to feed Wembanyama near the rim, which resulted in everything from a falling-backward poster over both Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren, to a one-handed turnaround alley-oop. By the halfway mark of the fourth quarter, San Antonio's lead stood at 10 points. It wasn't out of the clear, yet.

Harper and Gilgeous-Alexander traded a pair of free throws with under a minute to play before Wembanyama bruised his way into the paint for a hook shot with 11 seconds to take a 101-99 lead. Again, Gilgeous-Alexander matched the moment.

Chet Holmgren blocked Wembanyama's final shot in regulation to send the game to overtime tied . The extra five minutes resulted in another 3 from Caruso; a pair of poster dunks by Castle and Gilgeous-Alexander; and a logo 3-pointer from Wembanyama. That set the stage for a second overtime period — and Wembanyama's first 49-minute outing.

After forcing Holmgren into a shot-clock violation on the first possession of double overtime, Wembanyama threw down a one-handed tomahawk down the lane followed by a pair of free throws. Harper matched Cason Wallace's 3-pointer with an And-1 layup with 1:56 to play, and Wembanyama turned a post-entry pass into a poster over Holmgren.

His final lob of the evening — a feed from Castle over Caruso with 22 seconds left — sealed the deal. San Antonio took Game 1 122-115 in double overtime, handing the Thunder its first postseason loss of the year and spoiling Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP presentation.

Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder from Paycom Center is set for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Central on NBC.

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