Victor Wembanyama\u2019s off-game was the talking point after the Thunder\u2019s 127-114 win in a vital Game 5 of the Conference Finals on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The San Antonio Spurs struggled on both ends of the floor and were called out by the NBA circuit for their lack of contributions. The win now puts the Thunder up 3-2, with an opportunity to close out the series when the two meet again.<\/p>\n
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How the NBA World Reacted to Victor Wembanyama\u2019s Game 5 Struggles<\/p>\n
While Wembanyama scored 20 points, the double-digit numbers came on the back of 4-of-15 shooting from the field. He was 0-of-5 from the 3-point line and recorded 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 3 blocks.<\/p>\n
Analyst Kevin O\u2019Connor<\/a> called out the Spurs star\u2019s forgettable outing, writing, \u201cVictor Wembanyama: 4\/15 with 6 boards. Looked totally overmatched physically by Isaiah Hartenstein<\/a>. Jaylin Williams<\/a> also did a great job on him. This can\u2019t happen in a must-win Game 5. Straight-up needs to be better for the Spurs to obviously have any chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoops handle Underdog noted that Wembanyama<\/a> had fewer than 10 rebounds in three straight games.<\/p>\n One content creator posted a clip of Wembanyama<\/a> struggling during the game, writing, \u201cVictor Wembanyama pretending he\u2019s injured because Chet Holmgren<\/a> locked him up.\u201d<\/p>\n This was seconded by Thunder content creator<\/a> Skyed: \u201cVictor Wembanyama has 8 points if you take away his free throws.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an absolutely pathetic effort from Wemby,\u201d posted analyst Tyler Glasscock<\/a>.<\/p>\n Besides Wemby, mercurial guard De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a> also had a dismal showing with just 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Stephon Castle<\/a> led the Spurs with a team-high 24 points, along with 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Julian Champagnie<\/a> added 22 points and 8 rebounds.<\/p>\n The Thunder, meanwhile, bounced back from their Game 4 loss in emphatic fashion, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> with 32 points and 9 assists.<\/p>\n Alex Caruso<\/a>, who went scoreless in Game 4, came off the bench with 22 points. Jared McCain<\/a> and Chet Holmgren added 20 and 16 points, respectively.<\/p>\n SEE ALSO: \u2018INSANE\u2019 \u2014 NBA World Reacts to Cavaliers\u2019 Controversial Decision to Keep HC Kenny Atkinson Despite ECF Sweep<\/a><\/p>\n After trading baskets for most of the game, the Thunder went on a 24-14 run to close the half. Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s scoring further propelled them to a 20-point lead in the third quarter.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n With the win, the Thunder just need one more victory to book an NBA Finals berth for the second straight season.<\/p>\n If OKC advances, they will meet a red-hot New York Knicks<\/a> side in the NBA Finals. Game 6 moves to San Antonio<\/a> on Thursday, where the Spurs will hope to force a Game 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victor Wembanyama\u2019s off-game was the talking point after the Thunder\u2019s 127-114 win in a vital Game 5 of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[96980,64,63,3894,12835,46028,68172,121679,35183,590,2656,1666,5548,12837,10549,12841,85,12848,12838],"class_list":["post-697360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-alex-caruso","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-deaaron-fox","tag-isaiah-hartenstein","tag-jared-mccain","tag-jaylin-williams","tag-julian-champagnie","tag-nba","tag-nba-finals","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-sports","tag-stephon-castle","tag-victor-wembanyama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}