The Bounce Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.On this date in 1981, Julius Erving won the NBA MVP, becoming the only player to win the MVP award in both the ABA and the NBA. While memories might be fading, the ABA was highly influential to the modern NBA game. Erving won three straight ABA MVPs in 1974, 1975 and 1976. Then he added NBA MVP in 1981, reminding everybody of the immense talent that performed in the ABA.Thunder struckSGA, Chet put OKC one win from finalsEven while battling the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals, the San Antonio Spurs may have had it a little too easy. Their foray into title contention has been sudden and impactful, as Victor Wembanyama has looked like he’s ready to take over the NBA now. The thought of jumping from out of playoffs last year, including the Play-In Tournament, to the NBA Finals, however, is audacious.Throughout the history of the NBA, eventual champions and rulers of the league have had to take some small steps instead of one big leap. Just look at the Thunder. They jumped from a non-playoff team to the No. 1 seed in the West in one season. However, they lost in the second round before figuring out how to win the championship the next season. And now they’re fighting to end this run of parity that Adam Silver has been loving about the NBA.Last night, the Thunder showed their championship resolve and the lessons from the steps of the previous two years. They were missing Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell but managed to take down the Spurs 127-114. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still struggled to make shots; he went 7-of-19 and is now shooting 38.7 percent from the field in this series. But he made 16-of-17 from the foul line and totaled 32 points. Chet Holmgren had his best game of the series with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and he even took it to Wemby a few times.The Thunder reminded the Spurs that this isn’t just some fun ascension. This is a task that happens in the mud. They held Wemby to 4-of-15 shooting, though he went 12-of-12 from the line. He was apparently so frustrated that he declined to speak to the media following the game, which means he has to bring it in Game 6 to extend the series. You can’t duck the postgame presser when you’re the star, even if you’re Wemby. Every time the Spurs tried to speed up the game and make a run, the Thunder answered with tough defense. Now the Spurs have to go through the toughest part of their postseason run. After the incredibly fun win in Game 1 and their blowout win in Game 4, things felt fairly breezy and free for San Antonio. Now it must win Game 6 at home against the champs, then go on the road in a Game 7 to skip those proverbial steps.What do the Spurs need in Game 6? Shut down the role players. They had great success in Game 4 by limiting the Thunder’s bench and role players. Even without Williams and Mitchell in Game 5, OKC got 22 off the bench from Alex Caruso, along with 12 points and 15 rebounds from Isaiah Hartenstein and 20 points from Jared McCain. The Spurs received 20 combined points on 7-of-31 shooting from De’Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper. You can’t lose that battle with those guys.