Victor Wembanyama leads Spurs to thrilling 2OT win vs. Thunder with best playoff performance of his career

Few players in NBA history have entered the league with as much hype as Victor Wembanyama. And somehow, some way, the giant Frenchman continues to exceed even the wildest expectations. 

Late on Monday night, Wembanyama authored one of the finest playoff performances we’ve ever seen to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 122-115 double-overtime victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in an instant classic in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. 

This was the first double-overtime game in the Western Conference Finals since 1976, and Wembanyama finished with 41 points, 24 rebounds, three assists and three blocks on 14 of 25 from the field in 49 minutes to become the youngest player in NBA history to record a 40-point, 20-rebound game in the playoffs. 

“Just like, sheer willpower,” Wembanyama said of his performance during his walk-off interview. “Everything was going really fast tonight. I guess I was — I wasn’t really thinking.” 

Wembanyama set new playoff career-highs in scoring, rebounds and minutes, joined David Robinson as the only players in Spurs history with a 40-point, 20-rebound game in the playoffs, became the first player since Charles Barkley in 1993 to record a 40/20 game in the conference finals, and joined Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players with at least 40 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks in the conference finals or later (blocks did not become official until the 1973-74 season). 

40 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks in the conference finals or later

The Thunder had no answer for Wembanyama, who made big play after big play on both ends of the floor all night long. He had a go-ahead bucket in the closing seconds of regulation that looked like it would be the game-winner until Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored to force overtime. 

Then, in the first overtime, Wembanyama hit an absurd 27-foot 3-pointer — it seemed even further, but that’s the distance the NBA’s stats site gives — to tie the game with less than 30 seconds to play. 

And in the second extra frame, Wembanyama scored nine of the Spurs’ 14 points and outscored the Thunder by himself. His and-one dunk over rival Chet Holmgren was the defining play down the stretch. 

Thanks to Wembanyama’s heroics, the Spurs have grabbed a 1-0 lead and stolen home-court advantage from the reigning champions, who had not lost a single game in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Spurs are now just three wins away from their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2014, but the job is far from finished. 

“It might be a long series,” Wembanyama said. “Winning one game means something, but it doesn’t mean everything.”