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Top Scorers - Game 1
Leading scorers comparison from the Spurs-Thunder game
Primary Sources
Wembanyama scores 41 points as Spurs top Thunder 122-115 in double OT ...
OKLAHOMA CITY — Victor Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds, and Dylan Harper finished with 24 points and a team playoff-record seven steals as 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.
Victor Wembanyama Scores 41, Spurs Steal Game 1 From Thunder in Double ...
OKLAHOMA CITY — Depending who you ask, the San Antonio Spurs have felt ahead of schedule for quite some time now. Making the Western Conference Finals in their first year with both Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox was proof.Perhaps more popular was another internal opinion. Harrison Barnes pointed it out back in December, after facing the Oklahoma City Thunder for the first time of the season."We're on a collision course with this team," Barnes explained, giving his Spurs enough credit to humor a rivalry with the league's defending champs.He was right. The first series since the 1998 NBA Finals to feature two 60-plus win teams promised extra physicality and a greater challenge than either had faced in the two rounds of playoffs leading up to their run-in. The first postseason installment delivered.Without De'Aaron Fox, who was a late scratch with right ankle soreness, the Spurs took a 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals behind Wembanyama's first 40-20 game of his career. The 7-footer logged 41 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks in 49 minutes.Dylan Harper set a Spurs franchise record with seven steals to go with 24 points, 11 rebounds and six assists; Stephon Castle logged 17 points and 11 rebounds.Alex Caruso paced the Thunder with 31 points while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams scored 24 and 26 points, respectively. Oklahoma City lost the rebounding battle, despite San Antonio's 23 turnovers, while giving up 52 points in the paint.From the jump, Wembanyama exerted his defensive will. While Oklahoma City largely avoided trying the Frenchman in the paint, it was forced to make tougher shots away from the rim. Through two quarters, it logged its lowest-scoring half of the season while shooting just 36 percent from the field. Only Alex Caruso made more than one 3-pointer.Oklahoma City closed the gap after falling behind by seven points at halftime thanks to a barrage of 3s by Chet Holmgren, Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort. Caruso's hot start cooled, but he helped offset Gilgeous-Alexander's offensive struggles entering the fourth quarter.The Spurs continued to feed Wembanyama near the rim, which resulted in everything from a falling-backward poster over both Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren, to a one-handed turnaround alley-oop. By the halfway mark of the fourth quarter, San Antonio's lead stood at 10 points. It wasn't out of the clear, yet.Harper and Gilgeous-Alexander traded a pair of free throws with under a minute to play before ...
Wembanyama explodes for 41 as Spurs stun Thunder in Game 1
2 hours ago ... OKLAHOMA CITY -- Victor Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds, Dylan Harper finished with 24 points and a team playoff-record seven steals, and the San ...
Victor Wembanyama's 41-24 effort powers Spurs past Thunder in 2 ...
2 hours ago ... Victor Wembanyama scored 41 points and grabbed 24 rebounds while leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 122-115 double-overtime win over the host Oklahoma City ...
