SAN ANTONIO — Some time before the Spurs’ 118-91 Game 6 win Thursday night, a gathering of excited nuns, dressed uniformly with white habits and team gear, scurried through the bowels of Frost Bank Center.
The Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco had made the trek before, offering their prayers, positive energy and good luck for their beloved home team. And Victor Wembanyama, while not known to be a practicing Catholic — the 7-foot-4 center has studied and shown an appreciation for Buddhism — the similarities between the two walks of life are closer than one would suggest.
Discipline. Mental fortitude. Compassion. Humility. Necessary ingredients in both. And more importantly, for Wembanyama, essential components of emerging from a playoff elimination game — the first of his young career — unscathed.
Despite committing their lives to a different profession, the soft-spoken Salesian Sisters made their presence felt in a crowd of 20,000, not by the volume of their voices, but by the absence of noise altogether. When Wembanyama drilled his second deep triple 90 seconds into the game — prompting a Mark Daigneault emergency timeout — he simply walked back toward the bench without saying a word, despite teammate Keldon Johnson screaming at the top of his lungs. And when Wembanyama had only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander standing between him and the basket, with a golden opportunity to throw down a thunderous slam, the Frenchman opted for the softest touch possible on a floater.
The message had already been sent. A mastery of the perimeter and the paint. Wembanyama finished with a game-high 28 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks in 28 minutes, subbing out with nine minutes to go and nodding his head in approval of a task carried out to completion. A season defined by his continued ascension within the ranks of his peers while discovering himself on a deeper level isn’t quite ready to end.
“I think we were consistent,” Wembanyama said after the Spurs evened the Western Conference finals at three games apiece. “We did what we needed to do. Trusted the game. Trusted the basketball gods.”
The seventh and final game of what has been a brilliant, drama-filled series has no more chess moves to make, no additional levers to pull. Game 7 will be the 12th time these two teams have seen each other this season — familiarity breeds regularity. But even with that, the Spurs have an unspoken advantage they may be able to tap into. And if Oklahoma City’s last two trips to San Antonio weren’t enough of a reminder of the defensive fortitude that runs through Alamo City, Gilgeous-Alexander’s struggles against the Spurs’ setup should serve as enough of a warning. The reigning MVP finished with just 15 points on 18 shots in Game 6 (no other Thunder teammate scored more). Over the last four games, Gilgeous-Alexander has missed 44 of his 69 shot attempts, with San Antonio’s individual defenders showing an understanding how to affect the Canadian in a variety of ways. To take it a step further, the Spurs have largely been able to affect SGA’s drives and neutralize the gravity he feasted on for months, all while limiting his trips to the free-throw line. Four of the six games thus far have seen Gilgeous-Alexander attempt single-digit shots from the charity stripe.
Of course, there’s a glaring health element that cannot be understated. Thunder All-NBA guard Jalen Willams returned from a nagging hamstring injury but appeared sluggish, out of rhythm and unable to impact the game. Key reserve Ajay Mitchell — who served as Williams’ understudy — is also missing in action, depriving Oklahoma City of a quality ball-handler, scorer and floor spacer. In contrast, Lu Dort, who has remained healthy and is the Thunder’s strongest pound-for-pound defender, has shot just 18.2% from deep in this series.
But Wembanyama’s gradual mastery of one of the greatest basketball teams in recent history has been the underlying theme of a matchup of this magnitude. The Thunder have thrown a plethora of looks his way — putting him in multiple ball screens, toggling wings and bigs on him, upping the physicality levels and attempting to flat-out deny him in some instances. With every passing possession and game, Wembanyama has adapted to what he’s seeing on the floor and churned out new results like artificial intelligence. Screener. Play initiator. Play finisher. Rebounder. First and last line of defense. Whatever the situation has called for, Wembanyama has answered the call.
“His will and intent on leaving his imprints on the game,” head coach Mitch Johnson said. “His desire to meet the moment. He’s not always perfect and we gotta help him at times obviously, he’s 22 years old. But his passion and desire for being right where he is and at the forefront of it all, and to take the responsibility, role and burden of what he does, I don’t know what else to say. He’s comfortable with that regardless of the outcome. Not waiting to be perfect or knowing what to do all the time, but to attack the moment, have the right approach and live with the results.”
Outside of Wembanyama, a heap of praise should be shared elsewhere. Dylan Harper, the rookie making waves for his fearless forays into the restricted area, finished with 18 points on tidy 6-for-9 shooting off the bench, offering a positive contrast to veteran De’Aaron Fox’s struggles. Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie, San Antonio’s most prolific floor spacers, recorded two blocks apiece. The sheer value in shooters being able to impact the game at the other end is understated in today’s game, but the Spurs’ length allows Johnson to experiment. Oklahoma City scored just 73.9 points per 100 half-court possessions and converted 48% of shots at the rim, the 3rd and 4th percentile of playoff performances. Johnson was also able to generate positive results in the minutes Wembanyama wasn’t on the floor, with their most-used five-man pairing a +6 in that span.
Game 7 will be a test of will. A battle of wits. The Thunder, the current holders of the Larry O’Brien Trophy, will be favored (currently by -4.5 points) in their home building in front of one of the loudest, craziest fanbases in basketball. A roster full of champions desperate to keep their reign of terror alive won’t need additional motivation against a team still building experience. But Wembanyama, as he’s done since he stepped foot in the league, will meet the moment. Game 5 was marred by Wembanyama declining to speak to the media. On Thursday night, his game did the talking.
Win or go home.
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