OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Luke Kornet’s final line from Game 7 of the Western Conference finals: six minutes, 0-for-3 shooting, two points, four rebounds.
Oh, and a block.
A block that will forever live in San Antonio Spurs lore.
The Spurs led the Oklahoma City Thunder 97-91 with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter on Saturday night, and had just turned the ball over near midcourt. Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein drove down the right side and was about to try a dunk when Kornet, chasing the play, met him at the basket.
Kornet got the block and the building didn’t get the explosion of sound that the dunk would have brought. The Thunder never got any closer, and the Spurs went on to win 111-103 to earn a spot in the NBA Finals.
“Biggest play of the game,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said.
If Hartenstein gets the dunk, does the game change? Nobody will ever know, thanks to Kornet and the play he made.
“Luke, he’s been there, he’s seen it, and he makes winning plays every game,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said. “I mean, none of them are to the magnitude of that one.”
Kornet checked out of the game not long afterward; when he got to the bench about a dozen Spurs reserves and staffers were waiting with bear hugs, celebratory punches and shoves and who knows what else. He breathed a ton of life into the Spurs contingent, and they rode that wave all the way to the final horn.
Someone from the bench, Kornet said, compared his block to LeBron James’ chasedown block of Andre Iguodala in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.
“Let’s see which one has more staying power in the record books or history or whatever,” Kornet said.
OK, so maybe it wasn’t quite that big.
It was still sensational — and one that had the Spurs marveling long into the night.
“That was big,” Spurs center Victor Wembanyama said. “So many big-time plays, so many guys stepping up, oh my God. It’s an unreal chance. My life is amazing and being with these guys, living these things with these guys that I love so, so, so much, it’s amazing.”
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