{"id":315168,"date":"2026-05-30T07:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T07:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/315168\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T07:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T07:00:12","slug":"spurs-vs-thunder-player-grades-san-antonios-defense-stifles-the-thunder-in-game-six","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/315168\/","title":{"rendered":"Spurs vs. Thunder player grades: San Antonio\u2019s defense stifles the Thunder in Game Six"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nuYoMgApN74\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">words of Zaza Pachulia<\/a>: NOTHING EASY! NOTHING EASY! WE GOING TO GAME 7, BABY! GAME SEVEN! GAME SEVEEEEENNNN!<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The San Antonio Spurs dismantled the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 118-91 win in Game Six. With the series tied 3-3, the Spurs will head to Oklahoma City with an NBA Finals appearance on the line.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The Spurs won the game on defense, holding the Thunder to just 13 points in the third quarter. While the defense stifled the Thunder, Victor Wembanyama and Dylan Harper scored at will. They\u2019ll lead our Game Six player grades. As a quick reminder, player grades are based on each player\u2019s on-court performance, going beyond just the stat sheet. A \u201cB\u201d grade represents the average performance for an individual. If a player logs fewer than 5 minutes or plays only in garbage time, their grade will be incomplete.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">28 minutes, 28 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers, 10-for-21 shooting, 4-for-9 threes, +13<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Wembanyama responded to the moment. Wembanyama came out aggressively after a disappointing Game Five. He made it rain from three and attacked the basket on a few difficult drives. He was much more impactful on the defensive end, constantly disrupting the Thunder\u2019s drives to the basket.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">If you\u2019re looking to pick apart Wembanyama\u2019s game, he probably took too many jumpers. The Thunder are doing everything in their power to prevent him from catching lobs at the rim or getting deep post position. Finding a way to get him going toward the basket will be key in Game Seven. As +132 underdogs on <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsbook.fanduel.com\/navigation\/nba\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FanDuel<\/a>, the Spurs will need everything they can get from Wembanyama.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">26 minutes, 5 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 fouls, 1-for-9 shooting, 0-for-3 threes, +17<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Fox still doesn\u2019t have the lift on his jumper due to his ankle injury. He made up for his lack of scoring with his passing and defensive effort. Fox had 7 assists and 0 turnovers in the win. He knew exactly when to push the pace in transition and when to slow it down and find his healthy teammates. Game Seven will be a different story. The game will almost certainly slow down, and the Spurs will need Fox\u2019s scoring.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">32 minutes, 17 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 5-for-10 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, +13<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Castle has been fantastic in this series. He was great at handling the ball in Game Six with 9 assists and just 1 turnover. Once again, he defended his tail off against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Spurs held SGA to 15 points on 6-18 shooting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">25 minutes, 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 4-for-8 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, +24<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Champagnie didn\u2019t have the same explosive game he did in Game Five, but he continued to knock down shots. He made his presence known with an awesome finish at the rim and a sweet block from the weak side. He is playing really well right now on both ends. The Spurs are going to need another big performance from him in Game Seven.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">26 minutes, 12 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 4-for-7 shooting, 4-for-7 threes, +18<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Where would the Spurs be without Vassell? He was on fire in Game Six and maintained his excellent defense and effort. He\u2019s been given incredibly difficult defensive matchups in SGA and Chet Holmgren. He\u2019s held his own with Gilgeous-Alexander on the perimeter and played tough against Holmgren inside. His block against Holmgren was one of the biggest highlights from the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">22 minutes, 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 6-for-9 shooting, 2-for-3 threes, +19<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">This might have been Harper\u2019s best game of the series. He looks like he\u2019s back after struggling with an injury. He played with strength as he got to the basket and made aggressive plays in transition. What stood out the most was his tough shot-making in the mid-range and from three. When those shots are falling, the Spurs are incredibly hard to beat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">18 minutes, 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 4-for-7 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, +7<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Johnson continues to play within the rhythm and in the flow of the offense for the most part. There are times when he puts his head down and gets into trouble. His energy has been so important. He\u2019ll need to bring that same passion and fire to Game Seven.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">13 minutes, 3 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 1-for-2 shooting, +13<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">This was a scrappy game for Kornet. He was mucking things up inside, especially during the Spurs\u2019 big run without Wembanyama on the floor. Surviving without Wembanyama on the floor has been a key part of the Spurs\u2019 victories in this series. Kornet helped San Antonio thrive in Game Six.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">13 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 turnover, 2-for-4 shooting, 2-for-4 threes, +5<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Barnes grabbed an offensive rebound and knocked down a pair of triples in his limited minutes. Johnson went to him over Bryant earlier in the game, but ended up using both players.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">8 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-for-3 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, +2<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Bryant had another incredible dunk. He also played awesome defense on SGA in his limited minutes. That\u2019s not counting him laying him out in a moment that almost led to a flagrant foul.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">7 minutes, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 0-for-2 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, +\/- 0<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">McLaughlin mixed it up with four rebounds and a few assists. He missed some tough shots in garbage time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">5 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 2-for-3 shooting, +1<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Olynyk led garbage time scoring. He got fouled hard by Nikola Topic while going up for a layup late in the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">5 minutes, 0-for-1 shooting, +1<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Biyombo missed one shot in garbage time, oddly playing away from the basket in the Spurs\u2019 3-center lineup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">5 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 foul, +1<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">No retribution on Plumlee after his flagrant foul in Game 5. He didn\u2019t do much in his minutes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">6 minutes, 2 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 foul, 1-for-2 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, +1<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Waters knocked down a sweet paint jumper for his two points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the words of Zaza Pachulia: NOTHING EASY! NOTHING EASY! WE GOING TO GAME 7, BABY! GAME SEVEN!&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83,20636],"class_list":["post-315168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-spurs-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}