OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds, Dylan Harper finished with 24 points and a team playoff-record seven steals, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-115 in a double-overtime classic to open the Western Conference finals Monday night.
Wembanyama sealed it with a pair of dunks in the final minute, one of them leading to a three-point play as the Spurs stole home-court advantage and beat the Thunder
for the fifth time in six meetings this season.
Stephon Castle had 17 points, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson each scored 13 and Julian Champagnie added 11 for the Spurs, who were without De’Aaron Fox because of ankle stiffness.
Alex Caruso scored 31 points, the second-highest scoring game of his career, off the bench for the Thunder — whose nine-game playoff winning streak dating to Game 7 of last season's Finals was snapped.
Jalen Williams returned from a six-game absence caused by a hamstring strain and scored 26 points for the Thunder, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — on the night he got his second straight Most Valuable Player trophy — had 24 points and 12 assists but shot 7 for 23.
It was the sixth Game 1 in NBA playoff history to go into double overtime — the first since a Spurs-Warriors game in 2013.
And as the clock ticked toward midnight, Wembanyama decided enough was enough.
Game 2 is Wednesday at Oklahoma City.
The Spurs were up by 10 with 9:10 left in regulation, wasted it all, then survived a frantic final stretch where the lead changed hands twice and the game was tied three times in a span of less than two minutes.
Wembanyama had an off-balance chance to win it on the last play of regulation, but Chet Holmgren swatted it away.
Gilgeous-Alexander had his worst first half, shooting-wise, in nearly three years — 1 for 5 from the field, four points. It was the first time since Oct. 29, 2023, a span of 270 appearances including playoffs, that he didn't have at least two field goals before halftime.
Meanwhile, Wembanyama was doing whatever he wanted — dunking over trios of defenders, flexing at times, finishing the half with 14 points and 10 rebounds, looking perfectly comfortable in his debut on this stage.
And the Spurs' lead was only seven at the break, 51-44.
Gilgeous-Alexander got a couple shots to fall in the third, and the Thunder even briefly reclaimed the lead. But the Spurs were unfazed and the margin was still seven. San Antonio was ahead 80-73 going into the fourth.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
