The fans in Las Vegas got their money’s worth tonight. After winning their first round matchup by 49 points over the Suns, the Thunder faced a much tougher opponent tonight. The Spurs started out slow,
and looked like they might get blown out after trailing after the first quarter by double digits as they started out with cold shooting. Victor Wembanyama sat out the first 12 minutes and entered the game as the second quarter began and changed everything, just by playing the first three minutes of the quarter as he led the Spurs on a 7-0 run to make the score respectable. The Thunder rebounded by extending their lead to 16 midway through the second quarter, but 4 minute stretch by Wemby just before halftime gave the Spurs another huge run and they only trailed by three at the half. In just 7 minutes in the first half, Wembanyama had run up a ridiculous +20 plus-minus score. Plus-minus isn’t always a good measure of a player’s impact on the game, but in this instance, it gave a pretty true picture of how much Victor dominated the game in his limited appearance.
The second half was a back and forth affair, and the Spurs found a way to keep the game close even when Wembanyama was resting. Wembanyama played 13 minutes in the second half and started to look a little gassed at the end, even as he was still dominant. The Thunder used some spectacular defensive plays to keep things close, with Alex Caruso getting some great stops. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points and was able to score in situations where he didn’t even look to have a shot. Jalen Williams (JDub) had a fantastic game for the Thunder, but they didn’t look like the same team that dominated the Suns to win by 49 just a few days ago. Wemby’s greatness dominated the game, but the Spurs also got great contributions from Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox, and Devin Vassell. Luke Kornet only scored two points, but did a great job on defense and had a critical chase-down block to take away a Thunder bucket.
Observations
- The Knicks really look like a tough out. It’s tempting to look at the west semifinal and see that as the real final, but whoever wins tonight is going to have a difficult time eliminating New York. Jalen Brunson is just really tough to keep from scoring, he’s physical without taking punishment, and always keeps defenders off balance. Karl-Anthony Towns is a great fit with the Knicks and he’s probably playing the best basketball of his career now that he’s not a primary scorer.
- During the player introductions, Harrison Barnes missed his cue and didn’t go out on the court, leaving his teammates the dap the air. That’s OK, when it’s time to play, he always shows up.
- I wrote a lot in the game thread about the lack of energy in the arena during the Las Vegas games in the first two years of the NBA Cup. I’m not sure if it’s just because fan interest is rising in the Cup competition, or the teams, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem this year. T-Mobile arena was mostly full and the crowd seemed to be involved from the beginning of the game. when the game was close at the end, the energy was palpable, the crowd was as loud and having fun. I love this game!
- The Spurs got off to a slow start and Mitch Johnson had to call an early timeout after the Thunder rushed out to a 12-4 lead three minutes into the game.
- Victor wasn’t in the opening lineup, and he sat out the entire first quarter.
- Steve Van Gundy worked a double shift tonight, calling both games at the T-Mobile arena. It didn’t seem to affect the quality of his announcing, which remained poor. At points in the game, he seemed to be almost speechless as he was awed by some of the spectacular play during the game, which were my favorite parts of his commentary.
- The Spurs missed their first 12 three point shot attempts, which seems bad. A lot them were good looks, so it seems like maybe the Spurs were just a little too hyped up to start the game. Steph Castle hit the first three late in the first quarter, which was an unexpected source. The Thunder let 31-20 after one quarter, but frankly, it could have been worse. The Spurs offense seemed to broken, but they did get enough stops on defense to keep the Thunder from running away with it in the first quarter.
- Wembanyama entered the game for the first time at the beginning of the second quarter and had an instant impact, grabbing offensive rebounds, blocking a shot and diving to the floor for a loose ball as the Spurs went on a 9-2 run to start the quarter, cutting the deficit to four. After a glorious three minute stint, Victor was sent back to the bench. Unfortunately for the Silver and Black, the Thunder went of a run as soon as he sat. Victor changes the shape of the game when he’s on the court, and it’s that shape that the Spurs needed to be competitive against the defending champs. The Thunder outscored the Spurs 14-4 while Wembanyama sat the middle five minutes of the quarter.
- Harper accidentally grazed Holmgren on the chin while driving to the hoop, and the referees looked at for quite a while before deciding it was just a common foul and not flagrant. I’m not even sure it was a foul as to me like it looked like Holmgren fouled Dylan’s elbow with his face.
- Wembanyama entered the second time for the last five minutes of the second quarter and led the Spurs to a 13-0 run the finish the second quarter. After looking completely overmatched for most of the game, they trailed 46-49 at the half, with Wemby a ridiculous +20 in a little over 7 minutes of play in the first half.
- The Spurs started the third quarter without Wembanyama, but they were inspired, and took their first lead on a Fox layup early in the quarter, extending their lead to 62-56 on a Vassell triple as Daignault had to call a timeout to stop the bleeding.
- Castle gets a lot of contact going to the hoop and hardly ever gets a foul call. I’m not sure exactly why. Maybe he’s just so strong that the refs don’t see the contact?
- It seems the only weakness in Wemby’s game is the turnovers. I have confidence that as he gains experience, that will eventually become less of a problem as the game slows down for him. But for now, he often neutralizes his advantage by dribbling the ball into a crowd of defenders.
- Wembanyama played an extended stint in the middle of the third quarter, as the Spurs got out to a six point lead but could not get breathing room over the tenacious defense of the Thunder.
- The Spurs hung on as Wembanyama rested the final few minutes of the third quarter, with Fox drawing a foul on Caruso for free throws to take a 78-77 lead as time ran out.
- The fourth started with Wemby on the court, and the first few moments were a see saw battle as the Silver and Black took a six point lead and the Thunder fought back, with Caruso tying things up at 87 with a triple.
- Honorable mention to Luke Kornet for a great chase-down block to break up a fast break in the fourth.
- Wemby entered the game with just over five minutes left as the Spurs made one final push the win the game.
- The last five minutes were tense as the Spurs took a small lead into the final minute. Things got a little tenser as Wembanyama, a little gassed from playing 13 minutes in the second half, missed a free throw and the Thunder only needed a three point shot to tie the game. After a few exchanges of free throws, Mitch made the decision to foul Holmgren to keep the Thunder from taking a three to tie the game with 8 seconds left. Chet missed one of two, and the Thunder had to foul to get the ball back. The last few seconds were a crazy parade to the free throw line as the Spurs kept giving fouls to keep the Thunder from shooting threes, but it almost fell apart at the end as the Thunder almost pulled off a intentional miss-putback free throw. Caruso got his hand on the ball, but could not put it in the hoop as time ran out and time ran out with the Spurs winning 111-109
The Spurs advance to the finals and face the Knicks. It’s going to be an odd situation, the teams will be playing for money and a trophy, but there’s no impact on the regular season record or player stats. It will be interesting to watch, and it’s going to be a lot of fun for the fans. It remains to be seen how cautious coaches will be with player minutes, but certainly the Spurs players will be motivated, at least to get a llama for Keldon Johnson.
The Spurs will face the Thunder twice more in the next couple of weeks, and it going to be fascinating to see if the Spurs can take what they learned from this game and turn that into more wins against the league’s best team.
