The Oklahoma City Thunder cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs with little challenge and without a loss.
But they didn’t face anything like Victor Wembanyama and the the San Antonio Spurs.
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A Spurs team that beat them three times in four regular season games smothered OKC’s normally potent offense for most of regulation Monday night, then held on for a 122-115 double overtime thriller to secure Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
Wembnayama posted a monster game with 41 points, 24 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks while playing 48-plus minutes, the most of his basketball career. He wasn’t out of gas at the end.
Wembnayama pulled for a fearless deep 3 in the final minute of the first overtime to send the game to the extra session after the Thunder had seized momentum.
He then dominated the second overtime to ensure that San Antonio would not leave Game 1 without a win. He iced the win with a late and-1 dunk over his rival, Chet Holmgren, who blocked his late shot in regulation to force the first overtime.
He closed the game out with another dunk and a late block to put the finishing touches on a thrilling Spurs victory.
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This story will be updated.
Live41 updatesMon, May 18, 2026 at 6:30 PM PDT
Jason Owens
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:44 PM PDT
Ryan Young
Victor Wembanyama had a wild night. He finished with 41 points and 24 rebounds, which made him just the seventh player in league history to record a 40-20 game in a conference finals or later.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:43 PM PDT
Ryan Young
Finally, we’re done here. Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs have survived a long, all-timer in Oklahoma City to grab the early 1-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
What a start to this series.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:38 PM PDT
Ryan Young
After a Jalen Williams 3 at the other end, Victor Wembanyama just dunked through Chet Holmgren and drew the foul.
That put the Spurs back up by four with 61 seconds left.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:33 PM PDT
Ryan Young
Dylan Harper just took a huge shot to the face there after making a layup, and remained down for quite some time holding his nose.
It was reviewed, but deemed accidental. Harper did hit the free throw, however, so the Spurs are up by four with 2:04 left.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:30 PM PDT
Ryan Young
Wemby just threw down an easy dunk to open the second overtime. He’s already well over 44 minutes played, which is a career-high for him in the regular season or postseaosn.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:25 PM PDT
Ryan Young
What’s five more minutes? We’re headed to the second overtime, tied up 108-108.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:21 PM PDT
Ryan Young
My god, Wemby. He just pulled up from the logo, and we’re suddenly tied up again.
What. A. Shot.
We’ve got 26.3 seconds left.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:17 PM PDT
Ryan Young
The Spurs scored the first four in the extra period, but Alex Caruso hit a 3 and then Jalen Williams broke open a fast break dunk to send the Thunder out in front.
This game isn’t slowing down. We’ve got about 90 seconds left.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:09 PM PDT
Ryan Young
Chet Holmgren just blocked Victor Wembanyama at the buzzer! What incredible timing.
Let’s go to OT.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:06 PM PDT
Ryan Young
Well, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just did the same thing. He drove past Stephon Castle and got the layup to fall.
We’re tied again with 3.1 to go.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:05 PM PDT
Ryan Young
After SGA tied the game up again from the stripe, Victor Wembanyama took the game into his own hands. He just backed Jalen Williams down and dropped in a bucket perfectly.
They’ve got a 2-point lead with about 11 seconds left.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 8:01 PM PDT
Ryan Young
Dylan Harper sank a pair of free throws after a brutal foul from Chet Holmgren — the Thunder nearly forced a shot clock violation before the foul — and the Spurs are up by two with 37 seconds left.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 7:56 PM PDT
Ryan Young
Right away after taking a huge hit from Victor Wembanyama, Alex Caruso drains a 3.
The Thunder are back in the lead with 90 seconds left.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 7:56 PM PDT
Ryan Young
Victor Wembanyama just lowered his shoulder and rolled right into Alex Caruso and landed on top of him. That sparked a review with just two minutes left.
It was a quick review, and only a common foul.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 7:50 PM PDT
Ryan Young
The Thunder are right back in this thing. After a 9-2 run, the Spurs’ lead has been cut to just three with 3:52 left.
Here we go…
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 7:44 PM PDT
Ryan Young
Well here comes SGA. He just got around Victor Wembanyama and managed to convert a huge and-one. If he makes the free throw, we’ve got a four point game.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 7:32 PM PDT
Ryan Young
The Spurs aren’t slowing down, and keep pushing their lead back to double digits every time the Thunder look like they’re about to make a move.
With about 8 minutes left on the clock, OKC is running out of time here…
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 7:25 PM PDT
Jason Owens
The Thunder didn’t capitalize on the non-Wemby minutes, and he re-entered the game with San Antonio holding a 70-67 lead.
From there, the Spurs finished the third quarter on a 10-6 run and will enter the fourth quarter with an 80-73 lead. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has just 10 points. OKC needs a big fourth quarter from its MVP to mount a rally.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 7:11 PM PDT
Jason Owens
The Spurs answered the Thunder run and are back on top, 66-63. Can they maintain their advantage while Wemby’s on the bench? The Thunder need to take advantage when Wemby’s out of the game.
Mon, May 18, 2026 at 7:01 PM PDT
Jason Owens
The Thunder aren’t shrinking from a poor first half.
OKC’s opened the third quarter on a 14-6 run and is back out in front, 58-57 at the first break of the second half.