The Spurs did not take an easy route to the NBA Finals. They came through a hard-fought seven-game series against the defending champion Thunder.
It was the kind of contest where either side would have arrived as worthy favourites. San Antonio did it by winning Game 7 on the road in Oklahoma City.
For Paul Pierce, the pressure never seemed too much for the young Spurs. Speaking on No Fouls Given, he said familiarity with the Thunder players, not their age, mattered most.
Paul Pierce explains why Spurs handled Thunder pressure
The 2008 NBA champion explained: “Everybody said they’re young, they should be afraid of the moment. But they looked at OKC’s roster and they looked them in the eye and they were like, ‘Man, we’ve been playing against each other through AAU. What am I going to be afraid of?’ Like a lot of them, they played in the circuit young. So, it ain’t nothing new to face some of these guys.”
Pierce’s point matters. These were not strangers thrown together under playoff pressure, but players who already had competitive history before reaching the NBA.
“You know, Wemby obviously had a history against Chet, Castle and Harper and all these guys playing with McCain and all these in the circuit. They all played against each other. You got some familiarity with these guys,” he added.
That background helped explain San Antonio’s composure. Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper were young, but the stage did not feel entirely unfamiliar.
Now, the upcoming Knicks matchup poses a new challenge for them, and time will tell whether they can handle it the same way they did in the Western Conference Finals.
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