Thunder Face Wembanyama in Playoffs as MVP Holder Gilgeous-Alexander Calls for Improvement
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Devine: Does Thunder coach Mark Daigneault feel like the game plan to primarily guard Wembanyama with smalls — Caruso, Jalen Williams, Luguentz Dort — and then shading a second defender his way or bringing a hard double worked well enough to stick with it? It’s hard to see the forest for the trees after a performance like that, but OKC was up by three with the ball with 40 seconds to go in overtime despite Wembanyama’s monster first 43 minutes, and that the Spurs’ offensive rating in Wemby’s floor time — 109.3 — would’ve ranked 29th in the NBA during the regular season.
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CBS SportsGilgeous-Alexander got it going a little bit late, but ultimately, he needed 23 shots to score 24 points as Wemby forced him (and all the other OKC players) to survive on a bunch of jump shots as he basically single-handedly closed off the paint. The Spurs switched all over the court to keep Wemby stationed on the back line, sagging off some shooter so he could act as a roaming rim protector.
The Guardian SportWembanyama blocked three shots and changed countless others. He dunked on the Thunder and flexed, more than once. The Spurs outrebounded the Thunder 61-40. Wembanyama even smiled and posed for the cameras at times. This was his first conference finals game, on the road no less, and he was as comfortable as could be.
ESPNWemby spoils SGA's MVP night as Spurs stun OKC Victor Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds in a statement performance on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP night.
NDTV SportsVictor Wembanyama Scripts Historic Feat As San Antonio Spurs Shock Oklahoma City Thunder In NBA Playoff Game Victor Wembanyama Makes NBA Playoff History.
BBC SportPublished Victor Wembanyama delivered a 40-20 performance as the San Antonio Spurs opened the NBA's Conference finals with a double-overtime win at the defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Sky SportsSan Antonio Spurs are 1-0 up in the Western Conference Finals as they dealt the Oklahoma City Thunder their first loss of the postseason. Victor Wembanyama was once again the star of the show with 41 points and 24 rebounds; Watch the NBA Playoffs live on Sky Sports
Bleacher ReportJohnson posted shortly after Wembanyama posted 41 points and 24 rebounds while leading the Spurs to a 122-115 win in double overtime despite Thunder star Jalen Williams returning from injury.
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"We knew it was going to be a dog fight," said Gilgeous-Alexander, who received his MVP award before the game. "We've just got to be better, me in particular."
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Yahoo Sports“Quality opponent,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We knew it was gonna be a dogfight. We just gotta be better, nothing more than that. … I know what my teammates are capable of, what we’re capable of as a team when we bring it. It’s just unfortunate that I wasn't able to bring my best game tonight, but that’s how it goes sometimes. You gotta roll with the punches, don’t get discouraged and stay true to who you are.”
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Game two is also in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, while the New York Knicks open the Eastern finals at home to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
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Sky SportsGame two is on Wednesday in Oklahoma City. Watch the NBA Playoffs live on Sky Sports. Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
6 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Yahoo Sports Spurs' Victor Wembanyama may be breaking major NBA rule, analyst believes - Yahoo Sports Spurs' Victor Wembanyama may be breaking major NBA rule, analyst believes Yahoo Sports
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02 Bleacher Report Johnson said late Monday night on social media he thinks the rest of the West "may not have a chance to win the Western Conference Finals for the next 5-7 years."
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03 CBS Sports Every year, sometime in the late summer or early fall, sports outlets, including us here at CBS Sports, publish their Victor Wembanyama at No. 1.
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04 The Guardian Sport Stephon Castle had 17 points, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson each scored 13 and Julian Champagnie added 11 for the Spurs, who were without De’Aaron Fox because of ankle stiffness.
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05 BBC Sport Alex Caruso led the top seeds with 31 points off the bench, while Jalen Williams added 26 and Gilgeous-Alexander claimed 24 points and 12 assists.
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Sources (8)
- guardian-sport
- yahoosports
- cbssports
- bleacherreport
- bbc-sport
- skysports
- ndtv-sports
- espn