What is the story about?
This is just the first game of the Western Conference Finals, but it’s one of the greatest playoff games in the history of the league. The Spurs, without the services of their veteran point guard De’Aaron Fox got almost 49 minutes from Victor Wembanyama, Dylan Harper, and Stephon Castle. Victor scored 41 points with 24 rebounds and Harper had incredible plays in the second overtime to help ice the game. Castle had a tough night with turnovers, losing 11, but had key plays on defense as the Spurs kept
newly crowned MVP under control, but almost were put away with an incredible night from Alex Caruso, who almost took back the game for the Thunder with a 31 point effort and a series of spectacular plays. It was a great night for the Silver and Black as they showed they belong in the finals and stole home court advantage from the defending champs.
Observations
- It was a big disappointment when I found out that De’Aaron Fox had to sit out with an ankle injury. I think that Dylan Harper is great, but the biggest strength of the Spurs (besides that one guy) is that they have three elite guards so that at least two of them can be on the floor the whole game. It could be a bigger role for Keldon Johnson if they play a little bigger, and maybe we could even see some Jordan McLaughlin and/or Lindy Waters III minutes in spot duty tonight. Hopefully, the Spurs will unleash Carter Bryant tonight.
- The Spurs jumped out to a quick 7-0 start, keeping the OKC fans standing for the first 3:15 of gametime, forcing Daigneault to bring Alex Caruso. Caruso obliged by hitting a three, allowing the OKC fans to finally take a seat.
- The Spurs were aggressive on offense to start the game, and drew early fouls on the Thunder to the dismay of the fans in the arena.
- Caruso really lifted up the team in the first quarter when nobody else was doing much. He’s not the most athletic or talented guy on the court, but nobody plays with more heart. I want to dislike him, but I can’t.
- Caruso’s energy to start the game tided the Thunder over until the other starters shook off the rust, and the Thunder took the lead briefly, with the Silver and Black fighting back late, with the score was tied at 27 each at the end of the the first period.
- There was a bit of drama late in the first quarter as Holmgren was fouled by Kornet and bounced into the stanchion. Luckily, no one was injured and it was just a common foul by Kornet.
- Carter Bryant has this amazing ability to improve from game to game. In the first two rounds, his biggest weakness was picking up quick fouls on defense. He’s adjusting on the fly, and he was able to play shutdown defense with only one foul in the first half.
- The Thunder defense was successful at disrupting the Spurs offense, forcing 8 turnovers in the first half, but he Spurs defense was also performing, and the Spurs led 51-44 at the half as they kept every Thunder player besides Caruso under control.
- The Thunder started the third with more energy and forced an eight second call on Stephon Castle, which led to Lu Dort getting a wide open look at a three point shot to put OKC up 58-57, capping off a 14-6 OKC run to retake the lead.
- Mitch Johnson had words for Harper for giving up the rebound that led to Dort’s shot, but he made up for the mistake by making key plays as the Spurs retook the lead in the third. The extra minutes that he and Castle had to play with Fox out made it hard to keep up the effort, but that’s what he was brought to the Spurs to do.
- The Spur fought back and led 80-73 with a quarter to play, despite a timely late triple from Caruso.
- Stephon Castle is an amazing player, but he one weakness is that he doesn’t have an elite handle, and he can be made to turn over the ball by aggressive double teams. It looked like Mitch made an adjustment in the second half by having Harper bring the ball up court more often.
- The Spurs threw multiple players at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the whole game, but he could not be completely stopped, and he made a key and-one with 5 minutes to bring the Thunder within 5 points. The Spurs were trying to steal the game, and the Thunder were doing everything they could to steal it back.
- Wembanyama made a head scratcher foul with two minutes left, bowling over Caruso, which caused another pointless video review. I love the guy, but he doesn’t always play smart. Caruso made a triple on the return trip to give the Thunder the lead with just under two minutes left in the game.
- Julian Champagnie and Jalen Williams exchanged buckets to tie the game up at 97, leading up to an incredible sequence from Dylan Harper where he lost the basketball twice and recovered it to draw a foul. He hit both shots to give the Spurs a 2 point lead with 34 seconds left.
- Daigneault drew up an incredible series of plays to keep the Thunder get just enough shots to counter the Spurs, and with both teams scoring 4 points in the final minute, the game went to overtime 101-101. The Silver and Black had a chance to win it in regulation, but the Thunder disrupted him just enough for Holmgren to get into position to block his shot.
- The overtime session was insane, as each team made incredible play after incredible play, and Wembanyama tied it up at 108 with 26 seconds left with a crazy 28 foot rainbow shot. SGA tried to take the lead but missed the shot with Harper getting the rebound with .7 seconds left. Caruso erased the lob attempt and the game went to an incredible second overtime session.
- Harper made the key play of the second overtime, with a drive to the basket and a free throw after getting clobbered in the face twice to give the Spurs a 4 point lead. The game was iced with a Wembanyama Alley Oop with 20 seconds left to put the Spurs up 120-114, with his block a few seconds as the cherry on top, as the Spurs won 122-115.
Up next
The Spurs will play game 2 against the Thunder Wednesday at 7:30 PM in the Paycom Center. The game will be broadcast on NBC/Peacock again, as will all the remaining games in the Western Conference Finals, while the Eastern Conference Finals will be on ESPN/ABC.
