{"id":706584,"date":"2026-05-31T16:20:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T16:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/706584\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T16:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T16:20:07","slug":"this-scary-not-done-message-from-spurs-centerpiece-sends-warning-to-knicks-before-nba-finals-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/706584\/","title":{"rendered":"This scary \u2018not done\u2019 message from Spurs centerpiece sends warning to Knicks before NBA finals clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Antonio Spurs<\/a> have booked their place in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014 after edging past the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> 111-103 in the Game 7. With the win on Saturday, the Spurs clinched the Western Conference Finals 4-3 in the best-of-seven series and will now open the NBA Finals on Wednesday in San Antonio against the New York Knicks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Victor Wembanyama once again stood at the center of the Spurs\u2019 breakthrough postseason run. He was named Western Conference Finals MVP and also secured NBA Defensive Player of the Year honors. However, he downplayed individual recognition, focusing instead on the team\u2019s unfinished business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough we\u2019re still hungry for one more, this feeling is, I can\u2019t explain it, it\u2019s so powerful,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cWe want four more. We\u2019re not done. Go Spurs go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite missing out on the NBA MVP award, Wembanyama\u2019s impact throughout the season and playoffs has fueled increasing claims that he may already be the best player in the league. More importantly for the Spurs, his leadership has helped drive one of the most dramatic turnarounds in recent NBA memory.<\/p>\n

The Spurs finished 22-60 in both 2023 and 2024 before improving to 34-48 in 2025. Just a year later, they are now competing for a championship, completing a rapid ascent from rebuilding side to NBA Finals contender.<\/p>\n

The Thunder, who went 71-14 against all other opponents across the regular season and playoffs, struggled heavily against the Spurs, going just 4-8. That made them the first team in NBA history to suffer eight or more losses to a single opponent in a season while also recording 70-plus wins against everyone else.<\/p>\n

The Spurs\u2019 postseason success has also been notable for its less experienced and youth players. At a weighted average age of 25 years and 20 days, this team ranks as the second-youngest squad to reach the NBA Finals since minutes tracking began in 1951-52.<\/p>\n

As for young head coach Mitch Johnson, he has also made history, becoming just the third coach in the last 50 years to win a conference or NBA Finals Game 7 at age 40 or younger. He now joins elite company alongside Billy Cunningham of the 1982 Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> and Tyronn Lue of the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More NBA news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Antonio Spurs have booked their place in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-706584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706584","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=706584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}