Before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was presented with the NBA Most Valuable Player award.
Then San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama went out and put on an MVP-level performance.
Wembanyama had 41 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks to help lift the Spurs to a 122-115 double-overtime road win to open the series.
Asked whether watching Gilgeous-Alexander win the award served as motivation, Wembanyama said, “Yeah, for sure.”
The Frenchman, at 22 years, 134 days old became the youngest player in NBA history with 40-plus points and 20-plus rebounds in a postseason game, beating the record set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The then-Milwaukee Bucks star was 22 years, 352 days old when he had a 46-25 game against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 1970 playoffs.
Wembanyama became the second Spurs player with a 40-point, 20-rebound playoff game, joining David Robinson, who did it in the first round in 1996. He joined Wilt Chamberlain (in 1960) as the only players in league history with 40-plus points and 20-plus rebounds in a conference finals debut.
Wembanyama came through repeatedly in clutch situations.
“He has a rare desire to step into every moment that’s in front of him,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “And I think he has showed in his three years in a lot of different situations with a lot of different circumstances that he’s going to attack those moments. … He has some rare God-given ability.”
With just more than a minute remaining in double overtime, Wembanyama delivered a dunk over Chet Holmgren for a three-point play moments after the Thunder closed the deficit to one with a Jalen Williams 3-pointer.
Then with 22 seconds remaining, he finished a back-to-the-basket alley-oop dunk from Stephon Castle to put San Antonio up by six and start to put the game away.
With 27 seconds left in the first overtime, Wembanyama pulled up for a 28-foot 3-pointer in transition to tie the game after a 7-0 Oklahoma City run put the Thunder ahead by three.
“Confidence through the roof,” San Antonio rookie Dylan Harper said of the importance of Wembanyama’s long trey. “I was kind of stunned a little bit. But once the ball went up, I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s going in.’ It’s kind of just who he is.”
In the closing seconds of regulation, Wembanyama nailed a turnaround shot near the basket over Williams to put San Antonio up 101-99 before Gilgeous-Alexander tied it with a driving layup to force overtime.
Wembanyama finished 14 of 25 from the field and 12 of 13 from the free-throw line.
While Wembanyama was the headliner for the Spurs, Harper had a monster game as well, finishing with 24 points, 11 rebounds, seven steals and six assists.
Magic Johnson is the only other rookie to log 20-plus points, 10-plus rebounds, five-plus assists and five-plus steals in a conference finals game.
Harper’s 24 points were the most by a rookie in his first conference finals game since Andrew Toney had 26 in 1981.
Harper was starting in place of De’Aaron Fox, who was out due to right ankle soreness.
“I thought he was phenomenal,” Mitch Johnson said. “I thought he was even better defensively. … It’s just been very rewarding for someone who’s tried to support him through this year and help him in terms of coaching him at times and giving him guidance.”
Gilgeous-Alexander struggled for long stretches of the game, finishing with 24 points, 12 assists and five steals but going just 7 of 23 from the field.
“We knew it was going to be a dog fight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We’ve just got to be better, me in particular.”
The Thunder stayed in the game thanks in large part to their defense, which helped generate 28 points off 23 San Antonio turnovers, and big plays from Alex Caruso.
Caruso scored Oklahoma City’s first seven points, despite coming off the bench. He finished with a career-playoff-high 31 points, hitting eight 3-pointers. He also had two steals and two blocks.
“It’s playoffs,” Caruso said. “Game 1 at home, you’re trying to get juiced up.”
Williams, playing for the first time since April 22, had 26 points. He returned from a hamstring injury.
Game 2 is Wednesday in Oklahoma City.
–Field Level Media
