Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Victor Wembanyama scored 28 points as the San Antonio Spurs forced a decisive game seven in their thrilling NBA Western Conference finals series against Oklahoma City, leading throughout an emphatic 118-91 win Thursday. The Spurs were aggressive for the duration of a win-or-go-home clash with the defending champion Thunder, roared on by a boisterous crowd to keep alive their hopes of reaching the NBA Finals, where the red-hot New York Knicks await. Dylan Harper added 18 points from the bench as San Antonio bounced back from Tuesday’s disappointing loss to tie up the best-of-seven series at 3-3. The final game takes place in Oklahoma City on Saturday.
“We ain’t done nothing yet,” said Wembanyama, who collected 10 rebounds and made three blocks. “When your back’s against the wall, it feels like it’s the best opportunity,” he added. Wembanyama, after an uncharacteristically poor game five, arrived at his first-ever playoff elimination game with ferocious intent. The seven-foot-four French superstar — this season’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year — came out of the blocks fast, following his teammate Julian Champagnie’s quickfire three-pointer with two pinpoint range efforts of his own, plus a block, to open a 9-2 Spurs lead.
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Reigning two-time Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — who poured in 32 points in the previous game — looked unsettled for the Thunder. He was swarmed by the Spurs defense, missing multiple mid-range efforts. The sharp-shooting Spurs’ eight three-pointers in the first quarter were their most of any post-season quarter this year. Wembanyama and San Antonio’s energy and shot accuracy dipped slightly in the second quarter. The Thunder headed into the half-time break somehow just seven points down.
But the Spurs went on an astonishing 20-0 run in the third quarter to put the game out of sight. They were assisted by a disintegrating Oklahoma City offense that missed 13 field goal attempts in a row and went scoreless for more than seven minutes, scoring just 13 points in the third quarter. With six minutes left, and the Spurs up 28 points, both teams’ starters were benched to rest up for the decider, and the home crowd began to sing “Ole”.
“Tonight was do or die, and a lot of fans are going to be happy,” said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. He vowed his team would be “ready to go into a hostile environment” against the defending champions and expects Oklahoma City to bring “their best punch” in game seven. “We’re gonna go with our eyes wide open and expecting nothing less,” he promised.
Having spurned this chance to become the first team to reach back-to-back NBA Finals since the Golden State Warriors in 2019, the Thunder will have to seize another opportunity on home court this weekend. “When you lose the way we did tonight, there’s a lot more we could have done, that’s what we’ll look at,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “We’ll go out there and try to do our best to execute those things in game seven to give ourselves the best chance to win.”
The Knicks will play the victors, well rested after sweeping both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers in an 11-game winning streak on their way to the finals.
© 2024 AFP
