Facing elimination for the first time this postseason, the San Antonio Spurs come into this pivotal Game 6 with their backs against the wall. With 10 games already played between them and the Thunder this season and Game 6 looming, both of these teams are way passed the point of being surprised at what the other is trying to do. They’re both also worn down and beaten up, which means still finding a way to lock in and do the little things that are needed to come away with playoff wins, all while dealing
with heavy legs, will be more important than at any point this season for either team.
Considering that they’ll need to win two games in a row including what would surely be a chaotic Game 7 on the road against the defending champs, the Spurs are in as good a position as possible given the circumstances. They’ll have a raucous San Antonio crowd behind them tonight that can hopefully give them any juice they might currently be lacking in these latter stages of the Western Conference Finals as they look to force that Game 7. The Spurs have surprised not only Silver and Black fans this season, but also the entire NBA audience as a whole. Do they have another surprise in them?
San Antonio Spurs (2-3) vs Oklahoma City Thunder (3-2)
May 28 2026 | 8:30 PM CT
Watch: NBC, Peacock | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Line: San Antonio -3.5
Spurs Injuries: None
Thunder Injuries: Jalen Williams, hamstring (day to day), Ajay Mitchell, calf (OUT)
What to watch for
- He caught the attention of headlines afterwards for failing to address the media after Game 5, but Victor Wembanyama didn’t have the sort of performance in that game that the Spurs need him to have if they want to get to the NBA Finals, let alone win them. He went just 4/15 from the field, with a lot of that offense starting at least 18 feet out from the basket. When he has his outside shot falling, Wembanyama looks like the basketball demigod that people imagine him to be, but when he isn’t knocking down jumpers he still has a tendency to play far from the hoop. This is not new criticism of him: casual fans and analysts alike just assume that the 7’4 Wembanyama should just be able to dominate a game inside whenever but the Thunder have done as good a job as anyone to this point at keeping a body on him to either push him away from the basket or to contain him on his drives. Time and time again Wembanyama has responded to adversity defiantly. Expect him to rise to the challenge tonight on his first career elimination game.
- With tonight’s game a do-or-die situation, Mitch Johnson’s bench rotations will be of great interest. It’s no secret that this hasn’t been a great series for Luke Kornet. Kornet, who played a pivotal role throughout the regular season as a competent back up big to Wembanyama, has a cumulative plus-minus of -52 in the first five games of this series. He played just 8 minutes in the Game 5 loss, his fewest of the series thus far. Perhaps there’s a chance Mitch decides to cut out his minutes entirely in a game of this magnitude, riding Wemby as long as he can while maybe going small in the odd minute where Vic isn’t on the court.
- Kornet is far from the only one who’s struggled on San Antonio’s bench in this series though. Dylan Harper had that 24 point explosion in Game 1 as a starter, but he hasn’t looked the same since suffering an adductor strain in Game 2, while Keldon Johnson and Carter Bryant have also been kept on a relatively short leash by the San Antonio head coach. If it’s a tight game, especially in the 2nd half, it seems to this point that the guy Johnson trusts the most is the rookie Harper.
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