Posted on 05/30/2026 9:47:28 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The defending champs have been dethroned.
Facing a hostile crowd in Oklahoma City, the San Antonio Spurs showed no sign of nerves, using a balanced attack, excellent 3-point shooting and a stingy defense to pull out a 111-103 victory in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals Saturday night.
The Spurs now advance to the NBA Finals for a chance to win their sixth NBA championship — and the first since 2014. They’ll have to get past the New York Knicks to do so, with Game 1 set for Wednesday in San Antonio.
Victor Wembanyama, named the Western Conference finals MVP, had 22 points and seven rebounds, but the Spurs received contributions up and down their roster. De’Aaron Fox had perhaps his best game of the series, consistently hitting big shots to stop Thunder runs. He finished with 15 points, five assists and three steals.
Julian Champagnie scored 20 points and added six rebounds. Luke Kornet sparked a crucial four-point turnaround late in the game with a chasedown block of Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Hartenstein. Keldon Johnson hit a pair of huge 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 points.
OKC’s two-time reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 35 points and also had nine assists, but it wasn’t enough to counter the varied Spurs attack.
Here are the takeaways from Saturday night’s Game 7.
You become Wemby.
Luke Kornet checked in for just two defensive possessions, looking like a Wemby on both of them. When Wembanyama came back in, Julian Champagnie missed him standing all alone under the hoop. Then, Dylan Harper came flying in for the putback, just like Wemby would.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...

How can you not like Wemby?
Given they have Victor Wembanyama and a really good and young supporting cast, the Spurs are going to be a real problem for the NBA for the next 10-15 years.
⛹️⛹️♂️
What do you all think of that Thunder player pulling down the Spurs player when he was making his attempt at a 2 pointer ?
I don’t know player names - I just saw that foul happen.
He’s turned into a real jerk, and now that he knows he can’t be suspended, it’s getting worse.
The NBA refs make it practically unwatchable.
Alex Caruso did it.
He was terrible ,
and a big reason for the Thunder losing.
Great series. Wemby IS the future!
OKC blocked a shot cleanly, but a foul was called against OKC on the player blocking the shot. OKC challenged the foul call and, after a review, it was overturned.
The replay, at least to my eye, had the ball clearly going out of bounds off of the OKC player that blocked the shot. The refs, after their review, awarded the ball to OKC.
Should it not have been SA’s ball to inbound since it was last touched by OKC, the overturning of the foul call notwithstanding?
Incredibly talented, hard working youngster.
I saw that and many other totally f**ked up calls by the refs. The wife suggested that a blue cash filled enveloped was delivered to the referees dressing room just before the game. I think the Spurs are happy to get out of there without any serious injuries.
Only reason I care about the NBA playoffs is it means the NBA season will be over soon. (If you can’t tell I have no use for the NBA and less for the WNBA.)
How do you feel about the World Cup?
Congratulations to the Spurs! Bring on the Knicks.
Alex Caruso... it was a hard foul. Sometimes it gets rough.
Yet here you are
A Suns fan here and I hope San Antonio loses every game to every team. They used the refs to steal a championship appearance from the Suns in the Duncan days. I can’t stand former coach Popovichishili, and despise the Knicks, but in this case, maybe they can play to a zero zero tie.
Not a fan of fouls and flopping, but OKC was to be preferred here.
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