Three-time Olympian Nielsen, 48, has been with the Spurs organisation since 2019 as an assistant coach of San Antonio\u2019s G League affiliate and was appointed head coach in 2020. He became an assistant under Gregg Popovich in the NBA in 2021.<\/p>\n
Nielsen is one of the most decorated players in NBL history, winning two championships as a player (2003 and 2004) and is a three-time NBL champion as an assistant coach to Trevor Gleeson at the Perth Wildcats (2016, 2017 and 2019).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6a19088c11c56f2ed1366b3d_GettyImages-2277999299.jpg\")
Julian Champagnie #30 of the San Antonio Spurs watches film with Assistant Coaches Matt Nielsen and Joshua Brannon before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder during Game Three of the Western Conference Finals on May 22, 2026 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. Photo: Michael Gonzales\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Sydneysider has been in San Antonio to watch the development of French superstar Victor Wembanyama from the beginning of his NBA career. Wembanyama, 22, was drafted in 2023 and has led the Spurs to their first championship series in 12 years, the year Nielsen’s Boomers teammate Patty Mills won his only NBA championship alongside San Antonio legends Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Gin\u00f3bili.<\/p>\n
Game 1 of the NBA\u00a0Finals against the New York Knicks is Thursday, June 4, 2026 at 10.30am (AEDT).<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City Thunder 103 lost to San Antonio Spurs 111 (Final)
Western Conference Finals \u2013 Game 7
Paycom Center \u2013 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma<\/p>\n
San Antonio’s rapid rise from lottery team to championship contender is complete after Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs to a 111-103 Game 7 win against Oklahoma City, sending the franchise to its first NBA Finals since 2014. Wembanyama was emotional after the final buzzer, celebrating what he described as his first tangible chance to win an NBA championship.<\/p>\n
Game SnapshotQuarter Scores: Spurs 32-25, Thunder 28-24, 24-24, Spurs 31-26Largest Story: San Antonio closed the final period 31-26 after leading by three entering the fourth.Series Result: Spurs win Western Conference Finals 4-3.Next Up: Spurs vs New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.Wembanyama delivers when it mattered<\/p>\n
Wembanyama finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, three made threes and a block in 42 minutes, helping San Antonio survive a hostile road environment. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year had already dominated the series, averaging 28.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and recording 19 blocks across the seven games.<\/p>\n
After the final buzzer, the 22-year-old celebrated wildly near the Spurs bench before speaking about his championship ambitions.<\/p>\n
Castle’s emergence continues<\/p>\n
While Wembanyama remains the franchise cornerstone, Stephon Castle again showed why he has become one of the breakout stars of the postseason.<\/p>\n
Castle produced:<\/p>\n
16 points6 rebounds6 assists6 turnovers<\/p>\n
More importantly, he continued his difficult defensive assignment on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 35 points but required 21 field-goal attempts and committed three turnovers. Castle has averaged 19.2 points and 6.7 assists throughout San Antonio’s playoff run while guarding elite opposing creators.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Champagnie’s shooting swings the game<\/p>\n
The biggest offensive surprise came from Julian Champagnie, who erupted for 20 points on 6-from-10 shooting from three-point range.<\/p>\n
His perimeter shooting helped San Antonio finish:<\/p>\n
17-from-40 from three (42.5%)45.5% from the field21 assists<\/p>\n
Champagnie’s +16 plus-minus was the highest among Spurs starters.<\/p>\n
Fox and Harper provide the support<\/p>\n
De’Aaron Fox, playing through a high ankle sprain that sidelined him earlier in the series, contributed:<\/p>\n
15 points5 assists3 steals<\/p>\n
Meanwhile rookie Dylan Harper added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Harper’s postseason growth has been a major factor in San Antonio’s Finals run, with the rookie delivering key contributions throughout the series.<\/p>\n
The play that changed everything<\/p>\n
With Wembanyama on five fouls and the Spurs protecting a six-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, reserve centre Luke Kornet produced what Spurs coach Mitch Johnson later called the game’s defining sequence.<\/p>\n
Kornet chased down a transition opportunity and blocked an Isaiah Hartenstein layup attempt, sparking a Spurs fast break that stretched the lead to eight points. Wembanyama later described it as “the definition of a winning play.”<\/p>\n
Thunder fall short despite SGA brilliance<\/p>\n
Gilgeous-Alexander did everything possible to keep Oklahoma City alive:<\/p>\n
35 points9 assists4 rebounds3 steals<\/p>\n
Cason Wallace added 17 points and five three-pointers, while Jaylin Williams contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.<\/p>\n
However, the Thunder shot just 12-from-35 (34.3%) from three-point range and were unable to contain San Antonio’s perimeter attack in the decisive moments.<\/p>\n
By the Numbers<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs<\/p>\n
Victor Wembanyama: 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3-from-5 3PTJulian Champagnie: 20 points, 6-from-10 3PTStephon Castle: 16 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assistsDe’Aaron Fox: 15 points, 5 assists, 3 stealsDylan Harper: 12 points, 7 rebounds<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 35 points, 9 assistsCason Wallace: 17 points, 5-from-9 3PTAlex Caruso: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assistsJared McCain: 12 pointsJaylin Williams: 11 points, 10 rebounds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matthew Nielsen and the Spurs reach the NBA Finals after eliminating Oklahoma City in Game 7. San Antonio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-706403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706403","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=706403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}