NBA playoff takeaways: Victor Wembanyama makes his case as real MVP as Spurs force Game 7

Show Caption

This playoff run has been a series of firsts for the San Antonio Spurs.Thursday, May 28 presented yet another: this was the first time this young Spurs core faced elimination in the postseason.It was also the first time they fended it off and extended their season, and they did it in emphatic fashion.The Spurs dominated the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, 118-91, in what was a must-win situation. And with that, it sets up a Game 7 Saturday, May 30 in Oklahoma City for the chance to face the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.On Thursday night, all eyes were on the two stars in the series, Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the two-time consecutive Most Valuable Player, of the Thunder.In the end, it was Wembanyama who set the tone early and took control of this game.Here are takeaways from Game 6 of the Western Conference finals between the Spurs and Thunder:This Victor Wembanyama makes the Spurs close to unbeatableIt became clear in the first few minutes of Game 6 that Wembanyama was correcting his mistakes from Game 5.After playing too passively two nights ago, Wembanyama set the tone early, going 4-of-6 from the floor in the first quarter and 9-of-16 in the first half to take 22 points into intermission.“I would say his overall activity,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said after the game when asked what was different about Wembanyama from Game 5 to Game 6. “And that probably, from my perspective, his will and intent in leaving his imprint on the game.”The rest of the Spurs fed off Wembanyama, whose effort on defense and rebounding also lifted San Antonio. Through the first half, Wembanyama had hauled in 5 rebounds — which was just one fewer than his total from Game 5.That said, Wembanyama did launch 9 attempts from 3-point range. And while he made three of his first four, he has to walk a fine line between settling too much for perimeter shots; the Spurs are at their best when Wembanyama is attacking the rim.He finished the game with 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting and added 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals.“Trusting the game plan, discussing tactics with the staff and teammates,” Wembanyama said when asked what helped get him going after Game 5’s struggles.This is the worst stretch of basketball for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in recent memoryFrankly, it’s his toughest stretch since he became a star. Gilgeous-Alexander has been the paradigm of consistency over the last two seasons, routinely cruising to 30-plus points.This postseason, however, has not been the cleanest for SGA. To be clear, he remains an impactful player and is still averaging 27.1 points per game in the postseason. The issue has been his efficiency, which has led to a dip in production.Thursday night, Gilgeous-Alexander scored just 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting, marking his lowest scoring total of the 2025-26 season, including the playoffs.In fact, the last time Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points or fewer was May 24, 2025, in a Western Conference finals loss against the Timberwolves in which he had 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting.Gilgeous-Alexander’s last four games have been marked by an uncharacteristic inefficiency; over that span, he has shot the ball just 36.2%, making just 25 of his 69 attempts.“I’m not too sure, to be honest,” Gilgeous-Alexander said when asked why he’s struggling to hit shots. “A lot of the shots that I’m shooting, I’ve shot plenty of times before and they feel good. They’re just not going in.“But it’s too late to abandon my work and abandon my game and who I am. This late in the season, I got to trust it and live or die by it.”So how do the Thunder, with the biggest game of their season looming, get Gilgeous-Alexander going?A lot of it will depend on how Oklahoma City manages the extra bodies and late double-teams the Spurs throw at Gilgeous-Alexander when he starts to attack the paint. But, for his part, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault isn’t panicking.“I was pretty encouraged last game with the cracks we were able to get him,” Daigneault said. “Obviously, I don’t think we were able to do that as well tonight. I never discredit the defense or the opponent, there’s always that. There are things I think we can do better.“Our global approach tonight relative to San Antonio’s just didn’t give us the best chance, offensively.”Dylan Harper provided a crucial spark off the benchThe dynamic rookie had struggled over the last three games, combining to score just 18 points on 5-of-16 shooting over that span.In the first half Thursday night, Harper was aggressive and in a rhythm, scoring 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. He finished the game with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.It couldn’t have come at a better time, as starting point guard De’Aaron Fox went just 1-of-9 and didn’t record a single point in the first half. Fox did have 5 rebounds and 7 assists, but San Antonio will continue to need scoring from the point guard position, and Harper’s energy off the bench has been massive, especially because he’s not afraid to get out in transition.“When he plays with confidence, I don’t think there’s anybody his age that’s that good,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said of Harper. “He has been a big part of our team all year, so we need him. When he plays like that, we’re pretty hard to beat.”This is the recipe for the Spurs: aggressive pace, tight defenseIt’s clear that when the Spurs are able to dictate the terms of the series, playing with aggression and efficiency, and when they’re able to clamp down on defense to force turnovers, their offense ignites.That’s because the Spurs have excellent speed and can sprint out in transition to compromise Oklahoma City’s defense. The Thunder excel in the halfcourt, so any time San Antonio can destabilize them with fastbreak offense, it’s the Spurs’ best chance to win.That’s what sparked San Antonio’s massive 20-0 run in the third that put this game away.It’s no coincidence that, before the game got away from Oklahoma City, San Antonio led the way in the turnover battle (12-12), in points off turnovers (15-11) and in fastbreak points (18-10).The Thunder needed another scorer to emergeShai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 points in the first half, but only got to the line twice. He finished the game with a season-low 15.Cason Wallace dropped 11 in the first half on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting (including three drained triples). He would not score another point the rest of the game.Oklahoma City, however, needed one of its secondary stars — Chet Holmgren (10 points) or Jared McCain (13) — to get going with more consistency.Jalen Williams played, though he was on a minutes restriction with his hamstring injury, and couldn’t be counted on to be a reliable scoring threat. In Game 7, the Thunder cannot afford to have another offensive night like this, one in which they scored 13 points in the third quarter, a season-low mark.