Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs strike early in Game 6 and keep up the pressure to force Game 7 against OKC.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Download the NBA App<\/a><\/p>\n Win\u00a0or go home.\u00a0<\/p>\n Do or die.\u00a0<\/p>\n The best two words in sports:<\/p>\n Game 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n The San Antonio Spurs vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder in the series finale of the Western Conference Finals<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n A back-to-back Kia MVP<\/a>. A unanimous Kia Defensive Player of the Year<\/a>. A handful of All-NBA players<\/a> and 2026 NBA All-Stars<\/a>. There are All-Rookie selections. The 2023-24 Coach of the Year<\/a>. The third-place finisher<\/a> for this year\u2019s coaching award. Former rookies of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n The past, present and future are converging in a vortex of playoff excitement and intensity with the defending champion Thunder and the rising Spurs.<\/p>\n \u201cWho doesn\u2019t want to play in a Game 7?\u201d said Spurs guard Stephon Castle. \u00a0<\/p>\n Spurs rookie Dylan Harper said: \u201cDefinitely the biggest game of my life for sure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n And the Thunder\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the 2025 NBA Finals MVP, offered: \u201cBiggest game of my career. Yep, it\u2019s the biggest game. It\u2019s the next game, and if I lose, my season\u2019s over.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s\u00a0an elimination game and closeout game for both teams, and the winner faces the New York Knicks in the Finals.<\/p>\n No one should be surprised that two 60-win teams are going the distance in a series, but how they got\u00a0to this point is a little unusual. Outside of\u00a0double overtime\u00a0in Game 1<\/a>, the outcomes of the next five games\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0really in doubt. The margin of victory in the past four games was at least 13 points, including a 21-point difference in Game 4<\/a> and a 27-point margin in Game 6<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here are three things to watch \u2013 plus a bonus item \u2013 in Saturday\u2019s Game 7 (8 ET, NBC\/Peacock<\/a>):\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. Gilgeous-Alexander needs MVP performance for Thunder<\/p>\n The Spurs have defenders who are physical, have size and strength and are committed to defense. That combination has been difficult for Gilgeous-Alexander. Whether it\u2019s Castle, Harper, Devin Vassell, Carter Bryant, De\u2019Aaron Fox or occasionally even Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs\u2019 game plan from the outset of this series has been focused on limiting Gilgeous-Alexander.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Game 6, Gilgeous-Alexander had 15 points on 6-for-18 shooting. He missed his five 3-point attempts and shot three free throws, and the Thunder were outscored by 28 points in his 28 minutes on the court.\u00a0<\/p>\n If the Spurs needed\u00a0Wembanyama\u00a0to play better than he did in Game 5 to win Game 6, the Thunder need a much better Gilgeous-Alexander in Game 7 if they\u00a0want to\u00a0a chance at a second consecutive championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Spurs have hounded,\u00a0pestered\u00a0and muscled Gilgeous-Alexander\u00a0into 37.9% shooting from the field, 26.1% on 3-pointers and 3.2 turnovers per game \u2013 the shooting numbers way below his season averages and his turnovers one more per game than he averaged during the regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the shots that I\u2019m shooting, I\u2019ve shot plenty of times before and they feel good,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cThey\u2019re\u00a0just not going in.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0too late to abandon my work and abandon my game and who I am this late in the season.\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0got to trust it and live or die by it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Daigneault\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0want to put too much\u00a0pressure on\u00a0one player, and of course,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a team game.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not one guy, his shots, anything like that,\u201d Daigneault said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Assists\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0always in his control because they rely on teammates making shots, but the Thunder are at their best when Gilgeous-Alexander is scoring, compiling\u00a0assists\u00a0and getting to the free throw line.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Is it Wembanyama\u2019s time for a trip to the Finals?<\/p>\n Victor Wembanyama puts up 28 points & 10 rebounds in a Game 6 win to keep the Spurs season alive.<\/p>\n It\u2019s\u00a0rare for a 22-year-old in his third season to lead a team to the Finals. But\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0obvious\u00a0now:\u00a0Wembanyama\u00a0is rare.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, he\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0been perfect, and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0hard to achieve that the way these two teams play defense. But\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what Spurs coach Mitch Johnson likes about Wembanyama\u2019s approach this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s maybe his biggest growth this year of not waiting for it to be perfect or necessarily to know what to do all the time\u00a0but attack the moment and have the right approach and live with the results,\u201d Johnson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Game 6,\u00a0Wembanyama\u00a0answered his Game 5 shortcomings with 28 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists.\u00a0Can the Spurs get another game like that from him in this series?\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s\u00a0his first Game\u00a07,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0on the\u00a0road\u00a0and the\u00a0Wembanyama\u00a0storyline adds more intrigue.\u00a0<\/p>\n 3. Game 7 intangibles: Experience and homecourt advantage<\/p>\n The Thunder played in two Game 7s last season and won both \u2013 beating the Denver Nuggets<\/a> in the conference semifinals and the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals<\/a>. There is institutional knowledge.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of experiences\u00a0to\u00a0this point,\u201d Daigneault said. \u201cAnd the one thing that\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0learned more than anything\u00a0is\u00a0every game has a new life. Every game is earned if you want to win it. Game 7 will be no different. This is obviously a quality opponent. We\u00a0have to\u00a0play obviously a lot better than we did\u00a0(in Game 6)\u00a0and we understand that from\u00a0a number of\u00a0experiences.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Being at home guarantees nothing. In 159 Game 7s in playoff history, the home team has won 117 times (73.6%). However, there has been at least one Game 7 road winner in each of the past 11 seasons, including two this season.<\/p>\n On the injury front, the Thunder have ruled out Ajay Mitchell (right calf strain) and Jalen Williams (left hamstring strain<\/a>) for Game 7. Williams played in Game 6 after missing three previous games, and it was clear he\u2019s not close to 100%.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnything can happen in\u00a0a Game\u00a07,\u201d\u00a0Gilgeous-Alexander\u00a0said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0win\u00a0or\u00a0go\u00a0home. It being in your building is nice, but it\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0really mean anything. You\u00a0have to\u00a0go out there and be the better basketball team or else your season\u2019s\u00a0done\u00a0and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what it comes down to. Now\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0going to be nice having our fans behind us and cheering us, but if\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0not better, our season will be over.\u201d<\/p>\n This is the first Game 7 for most of San Antonio\u2019s key players, including Wembanyama, Castle, Vassell, Harper, Julian Champagnie, Keldon Johnson and Bryant. The Spurs have downplayed their lack of experience both in action and words.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of legendary Game 7s,\u201d Harper said. \u201cI feel like\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0a group that wants to be a part of that. We want to be part of that kind of history of Game 7.\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0going to go out there\u00a0and\u00a0swing no matter what.\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0just going to leave it all on the table.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. Bonus item! X-factors are Harper and Caruso<\/p>\n After the 20-year-old Harper, the No. 2 pick in the 2025 Draft<\/a>, had 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 2-for-3 on 3-pointers, six rebounds and four assists in Game 6, Castle said, \u201cWhen he plays with confidence, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody his age that\u2019s that good. I mean, he\u2019s been a big part of our team all year, so we need him. When he plays like that, we\u2019re pretty hard to beat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He, too, has been up and down in the series \u2013 just 18 points combined in Games 3-5 while slowed by a hamstring injury. \u00a0<\/p>\n Said Johnson: \u201cWhen he\u2019s switched on mentally and aggressive, he\u2019s pretty damn good. He\u2019s got all the talent in the world and makeup to do whatever he wants. He\u2019s capable of those nights when he\u2019s in the right place between the ears. He\u2019s a 20-year-old kid in the conference finals playing against a defending champ. He\u2019s not 100% healthy and he\u2019s doing a hell of a job. I\u2019d say it\u2019s probably a strain mentally, emotionally and physically.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Alex Caruso sets a new postseason NBA record for the most 3PM off the bench in a single conference finals.<\/p>\n For the Thunder, pay attention to Alex Caruso.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0averaging 15.3 points and shooting 54.9% from the field and 55.9% on 3-pointers. In Oklahoma City\u2019s three victories in the series,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0averaging 18 points, 4.0 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0disruptor defensively\u00a0and a stabilizer offensively.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe has the most championships on this team, first and foremost,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cHe\u2019s\u00a0played in the\u00a0biggest\u00a0games on this team.\u00a0That\u00a0experience, you\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0recreate and\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0manufacture. Either\u00a0go do\u00a0it or\u00a0don\u2019t. AC\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0some\u00a0uber-talented\u00a0guy.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0not some guy\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a06-7 with a 7-3\u00a0wingspan\u00a0and shoots lights out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0one of if not the best competitors in\u00a0the\u00a0NBA, night in and night out. He wears that hat for this group all season long, and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0on TV every night now, so the\u00a0world\u2019s\u00a0getting to see it.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0huge for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at\u00a0jzillgitt@nba.com<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs strike early in Game 6 and keep up the pressure to force Game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85,342834],"class_list":["post-704604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports","tag-thunder-spurs-game-7-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704604","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=704604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}