Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. It’s Victor Wembanyama’s fault I couldn’t write about an overtime Game 7 in the NHL playoffs or a no-hit bid that ended in heartbreak.
In today’s SI:AM:
💪 Wemby takes over
🏴☠️ Pirates’ other young star
🏈 Texas Tech changes course on gambling
Wemby’s best game yet
That was one of the best basketball games you’ll ever see.
Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs prevailed over the reigning champion Thunder in double overtime last night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, 122–115. Wembanyama finished with a preposterous 41 points and 24 rebounds.
Wemby’s gaudy box score stats can come close to telling the full story of his nightly dominance. Look at his Basketball Reference page, and you can track his development as a player, gradually but consistently becoming a more efficient scorer, a more reliable rebounder and an elite defender. Seeing that he put up 41 and 24 is enough to make it clear that he’s already an all-time great, but watching him do it is a transcendent experience.
Seeing Wembanyama block a midrange jumper while standing in the paint, collect a rebound over an opponent while standing flat-footed or effortlessly put home a lob makes you wonder how long it’ll be before we all agree that he’s the best player in the league. We’ve never seen a player capable of doing all the different things Wemby can. He’s like a combination of Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Durant.
Wembanyama has had jaw-dropping performances like last night’s before, but doing it in a conference finals game, on the road, against the defending champions, who have the best defense in the league, is something else entirely.
His night also included one of the most audacious shots you’ll ever see.
With the Spurs trailing by three and less than 30 seconds remaining in the first overtime, Wembanyama got the ball in transition and pulled up for a nearly 30-foot attempt at a game-tying shot. He buried it. Again, this is a guy who’s listed at 7'4" pulling the trigger on a shot that would make Stephen Curry blush. There were still 18 seconds on the shot clock. It was a possession the Spurs absolutely needed a bucket on. If he misses the shot, San Antonio probably loses the game.
“I was running down the court and was like ‘Yoooo!’” Spurs teammate Julian Champagnie told The Athletic of his reaction to the shot. “Then he hit that s--- and I’m like, ‘Wow, he’s nice.’”
Then, on the other end of the floor, Wembanyama’s presence in the paint forced Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to give up the ball on a play designed to get him a look at a potential go-ahead basket. After driving to the lane, SGA instead passed to Jalen Williams on the perimeter. Williams’s three-point attempt clanged off the rim and the game went to a second overtime. Wembanyama outscored the entire Thunder team in the second OT, 9–7.
Wembanyama’s big night was only possible because the Spurs have quickly built a winning team around him. With De’Aaron Fox (ankle) sidelined, rookie Dylan Harper stepped into the starting lineup and had an incredible game. He finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and seven steals. He’s just the seventh player in the last 25 years to have at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals in a playoff game. Jimmy Butler (Game 5 of the 2020 NBA Finals) is the only other player during that span to do so in the conference finals or later.
There’s no way the rest of the series can be as compelling as Game 1, but the Spurs have already flipped the script by winning a game on the road. We’ll see what Wembanyama can do for an encore on Wednesday.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Konnor Griffin goes to church every Sunday. He does not curse. He calls his parents every night. He married his eighth-grade sweetheart in January at 19. Here’s Tom Verducci on the highest-paid player in Pirates history, who is also perhaps the world's oldest 20-year-old.
- There is a new contender for the best pitch in baseball. Verducci explains why one off-speed pitch has positioned Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez as an early NL Cy Young contender.
- Chris Mannix reports on Victor Wembanyama’s apparent motivation for his 41-point masterpiece in Game 1: watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander receive the MVP trophy.
- OTAs and mandatory minicamps will determine some of the biggest upcoming roster decisions for NFC teams. Matt Verderame breaks down all 16 rosters.
- Recent championship success has given the Big Ten conference swagger, which Bryan Fischer says is leading its power players to speak louder about what they want.
- Texas Tech has seemed to reverse its stance against betting to support quarterback Brendan Sorsby to get back to the field this fall, Pat Forde writes.
The top five…
… moments from that epic Spurs-Thunder game:
5. Victor Wembanyama’s dunk through two defenders.
4. Alex Caruso’s emphatic block from behind. (Caruso would have been the main story if the Thunder had pulled off the win. He had 31 points off the bench for OKC.)
3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s jumper over the outstretched arm of Wembanyama for clutch bucket late in the fourth.
2. Chet Holmgren’s block on Wembanyama at the end of regulation.
1. Wemby’s long three-pointer to tie the game late in the first overtime.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Wemby Shines as Spurs Beat Thunder in One of the Best Games You’ll Ever See.
