Victor Wembanyama delivered a dominant performance with 28 points and 10 rebounds, propelling the San Antonio Spurs to a commanding 118-91 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals.
The series will now come down to a decisive Game 7 on Saturday in Oklahoma City, where the winning team will earn the right to meet the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.
Following Oklahoma City’s 127-114 victory in Game 5 on Tuesday, where Wembanyama managed 20 points and six rebounds, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson expressed that his team required a bigger contribution from its star player.
Wembanyama wasted no time demonstrating his enhanced impact compared to Game 5. Within the opening 90 seconds, he connected on two three-point shots and recorded a blocked shot as San Antonio established an early advantage they would maintain throughout the contest.
San Antonio built a 15-point cushion early in the second quarter, though Oklahoma City managed to cut that margin to five points before halftime, ultimately entering the locker room down by seven.
The Spurs intensified their defensive pressure during the late stages of the third quarter and unleashed a devastating 20-0 scoring surge that effectively decided the outcome before the final period began.
Oklahoma City endured a brutal stretch where they failed to convert 14 straight field goal attempts, going nearly eight minutes without adding to their point total.
The Thunder managed only 13 points in the third quarter, marking their lowest single-quarter output of the entire season.
With the contest effectively decided after three quarters, Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault chose to rest Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein during the fourth quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander led his team with just 15 points while shooting 6-of-18 from the field. This represented Gilgeous-Alexander’s most modest scoring performance since he tallied 14 points in Game 3 of last season’s Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Dylan Harper contributed 18 points coming off the bench for San Antonio, while Stephon Castle chipped in 17 points and nine assists with only one turnover.
Although Oklahoma City’s bench players had generally outperformed San Antonio’s reserves throughout most of the series, the Spurs’ second unit outscored the Thunder’s bench 46-38 in Game 6.
San Antonio established momentum early through exceptional three-point shooting.
The Spurs connected on eight three-pointers in the opening quarter, with Wembanyama accounting for three of those makes.
Oklahoma City struggled from long range in the first quarter, converting just one of six attempts from beyond the arc.
The Thunder welcomed back Jalen Williams after he had been sidelined for the previous three games due to a hamstring strain, but he was limited to 10 minutes of action and scored only one point. Williams came off the bench for the first time since Dec. 10, 2022, during his rookie campaign.
