Spurs dominate Thunder to force game 7 in the West Finals

After a disappointing performance Tuesday night in OKC, the Spurs bounced back with a dominant 27-point, wire-to-wire victory to stave off elimination and force a game 7.

The good guys came out with their hair on fire. San Antonio made a trio of threes, forcing the Thunder to call an early timeout. Wemby, specifically, played with the needed aggression that was missing in game 5. He drilled two triples and took Hartenstein into the paint before making a pretty turnaround jumper while deterring shots on the other end. The defense as a whole was sharp, with every player rotating and not giving up open looks for OKC. The Spurs played at a breakneck pace, getting into their actions early and running at every opportunity. Their momentum fuelled a scorching shooting start, as San Antonio made eight threes in the first quarter alone to build a double-digit lead.

Still, the Thunder kept their composure. Even with Shai on the bench, OKC played methodically to keep the game competitive. The Spurs maintained their defensive intensity, with the roof of Frost Bank Center almost coming off after Vassell blocked Chet at the rim. San Antonio continued getting good looks on offense, with Dylan Harper hitting multiple threes and penetrating the paint with ease. Some late-quarter blunders, however, led to two quick buckets from the Thunder that cut the lead down to single digits, and the good guys headed into the break up 60-53.

The Spurs’ resilience was on display to start the second half. OKC made it a two-possession game right off the bat, yet San Antonio kept answering with punches of their own. They managed to build on the lead during the non-Wemby minutes, even with Shai playing. The good guys neutralized the MVP, picking his pockets multiple times and forcing him into attempts from near-impossible angles while taking away open looks from the Thunder’s shooters. As a result, the Spurs went on a 13-0 run to build a 20-point lead without Wemby, and the dominance continued when he checked back in. OKC was noticeably frazzled, failing to generate good looks and chucking up long 3s so that they didn’t have to deal with San Antonio’s swarming defense. The Thunder went almost eight minutes without a single bucket, and the Spurs outscored them 32-13 in the third alone.

Down 26, Mark Daigneault got funky and threw a 2-3 zone at the good guys. It flummoxed them momentarily before the points started coming again, and Wemby comfortably checked out of the game with nine minutes remaining. Similar to game 4, Shai didn’t even touch the floor in the fourth, with both teams turning their focus to game 7 long before the contest was over. In the end, the Spurs came away with a dominant 118-91 victory on home soil.

Game notes

• Wemby had a great game, finishing with 28 and 10 on 10-21 from the field and 4-9 from three. Yet, I didn’t like his process, as he only had two lob finishes/attempts total, which was also why he only shot four free throws. Almost all of his points came from hot shooting from deep and the mid-range, along with iso drives against OKC’s bigs. If he had a cold shooting game, the Spurs might be on their way to Cancun, and the team will need to get him touches closer to the rim if they hope to win game 7.

• Harper looks like he’s back, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. The rookie had 18/6/4 on 6-9 shooting and seemed to regain his explosiveness, effortlessly knifing his way to the rim multiple times for impressive finishes or kickouts to open shooters.

• On the other hand, Fox had a horrendous game. The All-Star shot 1-9 and had just five points, although he also poured in seven assists. Fox didn’t have any of his usual burst and was largely invisible, but his presence is still a positive since it gives the Spurs another reliable ballhandler, while also forcing OKC to respect him from the perimeter.

• Jalen Williams was active and came off the bench, although it remains puzzling as to why OKC brought him back. He was one of the worst players both from the eye test and on the scoreboard. JDub played just 10 minutes and had a single point while taking just one shot. He wasn’t involved in the Thunder’s offense at all and was attacked relentlessly on defense, unable to contain anyone on the Spurs. I was expecting OKC to hold him out until a potential game 7 to avoid re-injury, though perhaps they wanted to see how he looked so that they could gameplan moving forward? Well, they have their answer.

Play of the game

How about this dunk from the rook??