Wembanyama’s quick start pushes Spurs past Thunder in Game 6
Victor Wembanyama passed Mitch Johnson’s Game 6 threshold early, and the nature of his scoring set the tone right away. Three first-quarter threes turned San Antonio’s 118-91 win into a spacing problem before it ever became a scoreboard one.
Wemby finished with 28 points, and Jalen Williams shot under 40% for the fifth time in six games. Still, there was little room for celebration in what was a close series. The two-time MVP’s absence took the air out of this playoff atmosphere early.
Before Game 6, Johnson said Wembanyama needed more than 15 shots and more than 20 points for the Spurs to survive. He did both before halftime, finishing with 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting, plus 10 rebounds, three blocks, four threes, two steals and two assists.
He scored 20 points in Game 5 but shot just four-for-15 as the Thunder crowded him at the rim. This time out, Wembanyama dragged defenders away from the paint by hitting shots from deep.
Early shooting changed the shape of the game
San Antonio’s hot start came from beyond the arc. Wembanyama knocked down three early triples, forcing Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren away from the basket. That extra space gave Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and Devin Vassell room to attack.
The Spurs shot 11-of-25 from deep in the first half, outscoring Oklahoma City 33-18 from three before halftime.
The outside shooting didn’t come from isolation play. San Antonio ended the night with 14 assists on their 15 made threes, spreading the shots across six different players. The ball kept moving, consistently finding open shooters.
They finished 15-of-41 from deep overall. Even after missing 10 of their last 12 attempts and going just 2-for-8 in a fourth quarter that was already decided, they had already done enough damage early on.
The third quarter sealed the result
San Antonio’s defence closed the game in the third. Oklahoma City missed 13 straight field goals and went 7:30 without a point as the Spurs ran off a 32-13 quarter, including an 0-for-8 stretch from three. The starters watched the fourth from the bench on both sides.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting and 0-of-5 from deep, his roughest scoring game of the series. Alex Caruso, who entered Game 6 with 18 made threes on 58.1% shooting, went 1-of-3.
Harper added 18 off the bench on 6-of-7, and Castle’s stat line continued to impress: his eighth playoff game with at least 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists – a level only Magic Johnson and Larry Bird have exceeded among rookies and sophomores during a single postseason run.
The Thunder face a choice heading into Game 7: push up on Wembanyama and risk giving up space behind them, or sit back and potentially allow him to find his rhythm again, just as he did in Game 6.
“They were the aggressors, start to finish,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. That aggression started with the first two Wembanyama threes. Oklahoma City has one day to decide whether to treat them as an outlier or the coverage problem that decides the series.
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