OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The physical attributes and basketball abilities that make Victor Wembanyama so dominant aren’t changing before the second game of the Western Conference finals. His skills will remain sharp, and the San Antonio Spurs’ confidence level certainly won’t diminish.
This reality means the Oklahoma City Thunder must find ways to improve their approach.
San Antonio needed extraordinary performances — particularly Wembanyama’s dominant 41-point, 24-rebound showing and rookie Dylan Harper’s impressive 24-point, seven-steal contribution — to capture Monday’s double-overtime classic in Game 1. With Game 2 scheduled for Wednesday, the pressure is on Oklahoma City to respond.
“You’ve just got to be aggressive, just be smart, I think, more than anything,” Thunder guard and two-time Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of facing the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama. “He obviously is very big at the rim, but we still found cracks in (the defense) at times. We’ve just got to be willing to work possessions and make sure we get the best shot each time down.”
Put simply, Oklahoma City needs to do some studying.
There’s some irony in this situation, considering that continuous improvement has been San Antonio’s theme.
The Spurs declared De’Aaron Fox unavailable roughly an hour before the opening game, which meant they fielded the youngest starting lineup in NBA conference finals history — featuring 20-year-old Harper, 21-year-old Stephon Castle, 22-year-old Wembanyama, 24-year-old Julian Champagnie and 25-year-old Devin Vassell. Given that most of these players would typically still be in college, Wembanyama’s frequent references to “learning” seem both genuine and appropriate.
“We want to win everything, and we have the chance to. We have people above us in the organization that know how to do that,” Wembanyama said. “And, so far, it looks like they’ve put the right people together to give us a chance — because right now, we’ve got a chance. We still got a lot to do, lot to learn, lot of trials to go through that we don’t even know of, but we have a chance.”
Clearly, the architects of San Antonio’s success — including the likes of Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford, along with the current leadership of general manager Brian Wright and coach Mitch Johnson — understand their craft. The championship banners hanging in San Antonio serve as evidence.
Oklahoma City’s leadership has proven equally capable; the Thunder demonstrated their championship credentials last season by capturing a title. Following Monday’s defeat, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault maintained his characteristic composure.
“I’m never going to discredit an opponent when they come in here and win like that,” Daigneault said. “But we have a lot of runway to improve. We have a lot of players that can play better. We collectively can play with more intentionality on both ends of the floor, certainly on the offensive end of the floor. We can play better collectively.”
Regardless of Wednesday’s outcome, Daigneault will probably deliver similar comments following Game 2.
“Game 2 is going to end and then we’ll need to be a better team in Game 3,” Daigneault said. “That’s how these work.”
San Antonio has legitimate reasons for optimism: they hold a 1-0 series advantage and hope Fox might return for the second game. While Oklahoma City, despite Alex Caruso’s 31-point effort in the series opener, may lack immediate reasons for celebration, they shouldn’t panic either: Gilgeous-Alexander’s poor shooting performance (7 for 23 in Game 1) is unlikely to continue, and the 21-rebound deficit — their worst since November 2024 — represents a correctable issue.
“That’s what this time of year is about,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s the highest level of basketball and you’re going to find out exactly what type of player you are, what type of competitor you are and exactly what you need to get better at.”
