Spurs Outlast Thunder In Double Overtime To Take Game One Of Western Conference Finals
The NBA could not have asked for a better start to the Conference Finals than what took place Monday night in Oklahoma City.
It took two overtime’s and 58 minutes but the Spurs outlasted the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder 122-115 to steal Game One of the Western Conference Finals.
“It was a war of wills,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said following the game. “The levels of mental toughness exuded by both teams … we needed every second from everybody that played.”
Prior to the tip-off V-Dub and his colleagues had to watch as Oklahoma’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received this year’s MVP trophy, his second consecutive MVP award. I don’t believe that sat well with Wembanyama; this year’s DPOY, who received only fives votes for the honor. He took it out on the basketball world.
In his first Conference Final, V-Dub was virtually unstoppable. He finished with 41 points, 24 rebounds; including nine offensive, and three blocks to lead the Spurs.
V-Dub became the second player in Spurs history to record 40 points and 20 rebounds in a postseason game behind the legendary David Robinson. At 22 years, 134 days, V-Dub became the youngest player with at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was 22 years, 343 days when he had a 40/20 game in the 1970 NBA Finals.
Dylan Harper; starting in place of De’Aaron Fox who was questionable with an ankle injury, finished with 24 points and a team playoff-record seven steals in his first Conference Final.
Stephon Castle had 17 points and 11 assists for the Silver and Black, while Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson each scored 13. Julian Champagnie chipped in 11 for the Spurs.
The Game One win snaps OKC’s nine game postseason win streak that dates back to Game Seven of last year’s NBA Finals. It was also the fifth win in six games this season for the Spurs against the defending champs.
While the Thunder were the more rested team coming off series sweeps in both the first and second rounds, the Spurs were the more aggressive team. They dominated the Thunder 61-40 on the glass and 52-38 in points in the paint.
The newly crowned MVP Gilgeous-Alexander struggled mightily against a stiff San Antonio defense. He finished the contest with 24 points and 12 assists on 7 for 23 shots from the field.
Alex Caruso scored 31 points, the second-highest scoring game of his career, off the bench for the Thunder. Jalen Williams scored 26 points for the Thunder in his return from a six-game absence due to a hamstring strain.
One thing for sure that the Spurs will have to clean up going into Game Two is the turnovers. The squad had 23 total turnovers which led to 28 points for the Thunder. Stephon Castle in particular has to prize the rock a bit more as he had 11 turnovers himself.
If Game One is any indication of the intensity of this matchup, NBA fans are in for a treat. Game Two is Wednesday at 7:30 on NBC/Peacock.
