The NBA is in good hands. That’s nothing new, but Victor Wembanyama’s performance in his first playoff meeting against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder hammered it home.
He controlled Monday night’s Game 1 of the Western Conference finals throughout as he finished with 41 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks in a career-high 49 minutes. Despite a lackluster night shooting the ball from Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder went back and forth with the Spurs and stormed back to force overtime with a fourth-quarter surge.
Gilgeous-Alexander tied the game at 101 points apiece with 3.1 seconds left in regulation after Wembanyama gave the Spurs the lead just moments earlier. Two of the league’s youngest and brightest stars traded buckets to cap off what was debatably the game of the year. And that was before we even got to overtime.
The clutch bucket and a big stop gave Oklahoma City the momentum as the game headed into overtime. From there, the Thunder went on a 7–0 overtime run and led by three with under a minute left, but Wembanyama had some heroics in store to extend the game and open up the door for what turned into a complete takeover which sealed an incredible Game 1 victory for the Spurs on the road.
In an instant classic like Monday night’s thriller, you could barely take a breath before the next big shot or defensive stop. We decided to go through the five best moments from Game 1 in Oklahoma City where Wembanyama and the Spurs got the last laugh in double overtime:
5. Gilgeous-Alexander’s game-tying layup at the end of the fourth quarter
SGA COMES THROUGH!
— NBA (@NBA) May 19, 2026
WE ARE TIED AT 101 WITH 3.1 SECONDS TO GO ON NBC AND PEACOCK. pic.twitter.com/9yHrBaeu1u
The points didn’t fall at the usual rate for Gilgeous-Alexander, but he came up big when his team needed it most. Down two points with 11.5 seconds left in regulation, he slipped through a screen and past Stephon Castle to create a lane toward the hoop for what was a game-tying layup that forced overtime. The only problem was that the Spurs still had a timeout and there was 3.1 seconds left on the clock to draw something up for their own superstar. But the Thunder defense wouldn’t let the MVP’s big bucket go to waste, at least yet (more on that momentarily).
4. The Alex Caruso show
Alex Caruso 31 PTS, 2 REB, 2 STL, 2 BLK, 11/19 FG, 8/14 3FG, 76.3% TS vs Spurs https://t.co/31nx4nrq0t pic.twitter.com/zoLpxEa5cb
— Basketball Performances (@NBAPerformances) May 19, 2026
The Thunder started the game slow as Alex Caruso made their first bucket of the game after he came off the bench. He never cooled off as he finished the night with 31 points and knocked down eight of his 14 three-point attempts. It’s a new playoff career-high for Caruso and he fell just one point shy of the best scoring game of his nine-year career.
As impactful as he was as a scorer for the Thunder, he brought just as much on the defensive side of the ball. He had two blocks and two steals while Thunder coach Mark Daigneault decided to give him the tall task of defending Wembanyama in what’s a huge size disadvantage for the 6’5” guard. He even broke up a lob attempt from Dylan Harper to Castle with 0.7 seconds left in the first overtime to hold the Spurs off for five minutes longer.
3. Wembanyama’s takeover in double overtime to ice the game
WEMBY WITH THE AND-1.
— NBA (@NBA) May 19, 2026
SPURS BACK UP 3. 1:01 LEFT IN 2OT ON NBC/PEACOCK. pic.twitter.com/6ZXFS7b1yG
Up just one point with a minute left in double overtime, Wembanyama decided he had seen enough. Harper found the big man in the paint as he spun around Caruso for a ferocious slam over Chet Holmgren and absorbed contact in the process. That sent Wembanyama to the line to add one more and bring the Spurs’ lead to two possessions. The Spurs got a stop on the other end of the floor and on the next possession, Castle found Wembanyama for another dunk that all but closed the game with San Antonio ahead by six and 22 seconds left.
When the Thunder got the ball back, he blocked Jalen Williams’s shot and grabbed the rebound to officially close out the night. The sequence was so good that he could only stand there, likely gassed after he played a career-high 49 minutes, as his teammates watched in awe.
IT WAS WEMBY'S NIGHT.
— NBA (@NBA) May 19, 2026
41 PTS. 24 REB. 49 MIN. SAS W. pic.twitter.com/mctJ3LmXDY
2. Chet Holmgren’s block on Wembanyama to end regulation
CHET HOLMGREN BLOCKS WEMBY IN THE CLUTCH. 🔒🔒🔒 pic.twitter.com/RbmcLbIy6p
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) May 19, 2026
With 3.1 seconds left in regulation, everyone knew the Spurs would give Wembanyama the ball. Caruso and Cason Wallace threw him off balance which gave Holmgren room to swat the big man’s shot with the game on the line. Holmgren’s big block will likely get somewhat forgotten with how the game ended, but it was a huge moment that brought us to two thrilling overtime frames.
1. Wembanyama’s logo three to force double overtime
VICTOR WEMBANYAMA FROM THE LOGO FOR THE TIE
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) May 19, 2026
THIS GAME IS UNBELIEVABLE
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/BBfecSdajs
Wembanyama’s three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the first overtime was his first and only trey of the night. After a Thunder miss, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson decided to leave his timeout in his pocket and let his superstar do the rest. Castle found Wembanyama open 28 feet away from the rim and he decided to pull up from near the OKC logo in what was a wild shot considering the circumstances. Superstars make those shots in big spots, though, in what ended up as the final points of the first overtime to put five more minutes on the clock.
And the rest was history from there.
More NBA Playoffs from Sports Illustrated
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Wemby vs. SGA: Five Best Moments From Game 1 Instant Classic Between Spurs and Thunder.
