Spurs beat Thunder in double overtime — Victor Wembanyama leads San Antonio

San Antonio opened the Western Conference finals by taking home-court advantage from Oklahoma City in a 122-115 double-overtime win on May 18, with Victor Wembanyama delivering the kind of stat line that changes the shape of a series. The Spurs won Game 1 at Paycom Center behind 41 points, 24 rebounds and 3 blocks from Wembanyama, according to the NBA and the league’s official box score. Dylan Harper added 24 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 steals, and Stephon Castle finished with 17 points and 11 assists. Oklahoma City got 31 points from Alex Caruso off the bench and 24 points with 12 assists from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but the Thunder were outscored 15-8 in the second overtime. ### How did San Antonio take Game 1 on the road? San Antonio won the rebounding battle 61-40 and got 15 offensive rebounds, numbers that helped offset 21 turnovers and kept the Spurs alive through two extra periods. Wembanyama shot 14-for-25 from the field and 12-for-13 from the free-throw line, while the Spurs as a team went 27-for-29 at the stripe. (nba.com) The second overtime belonged to the Spurs’ front line and half-court execution. The NBA’s game recap said San Antonio closed behind Wembanyama’s late scoring after a game in which he produced 20 combined points across the fourth quarter and the two overtime periods. (nba.com) ### How big was Wembanyama’s night? Wembanyama’s 41 points and 24 rebounds were both playoff career highs, and the NBA said he joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to post 40 points and 20 rebounds in a conference finals debut. The league also said he became the youngest player in NBA history to record 40 points and 20 rebounds in a postseason game. (nba.com) The Associated Press described the performance as the engine of San Antonio’s opener, with Wembanyama leading a road win that snapped Oklahoma City’s playoff win streak. His plus-16 was the best mark among starters in a game that lasted nearly 49 minutes for him. (nba.com) ### What else swung the game besides Wembanyama? Dylan Harper gave San Antonio a second playmaking source with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, and his 7 steals gave the Spurs repeated extra possessions. NBA.com said Harper became the first rookie since Magic Johnson in 1980 to record at least 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals in a playoff game. (apnews.com) Oklahoma City’s bench nearly stole the game anyway. Caruso scored 31 points and hit 8 of 14 from three-point range, helping the Thunder build a 50-16 edge in bench points. Gilgeous-Alexander added 5 steals, but he shot 7-for-23 from the field as San Antonio packed the lane and forced a more difficult scoring night than usual, according to the NBA recap. (nba.com) ### Why does the Thunder box score look so strange? Oklahoma City made 17 three-pointers to San Antonio’s 13 and committed only 14 turnovers, but the Thunder lost the possession game on the glass. The Spurs finished with 61 rebounds to Oklahoma City’s 40 and generated 52 points in the paint. The official NBA box score also shows the Thunder got only 8 points from Chet Holmgren and 5 from Luguentz Dort, putting more of the scoring burden on Caruso, Jalen Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander. (nba.com) That imbalance mattered once the game stretched into a second overtime. ### When is the next game? Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. (nba.com) ET in Oklahoma City, according to NBA.com’s recap page. The game will air on NBC and Peacock before the series shifts to San Antonio later in the week. (nba.com)