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I was almost sad that one team had to lose because I just appreciated so much the effort level that was going into the game. But it's an absolutely historic game. It'll be remembered for a long time. I don't know if it'll be the best game in the series, but the excitement is that it's only game 1 of the series. Victor Wimbenjama's stat line in this game, Bontemps, is pretty iconic. He first off, he played 49 minutes. He's never played that much in a game in his life, I've ventured to guess. He scored 41 points, had 24 rebounds, three block shots, but most importantly, in the second overtime of the game. We could spend 25 minutes just detailing all of his exploits in this game, primarily clutch plays. But in the second overtime of this game, when I thought that he's just not going to have any juice left, any gas left, he scored nine points and had four rebounds and a block in that five minutes. When everybody else was out totally out of juice, he found some more. And I'm trying to keep my composure right now. I'm trying to keep my composure. Trying, you know, I have this rule about not overreacting to a game 1, so I'm trying to follow my rules. But I'm having an urge to say, I don't know how you're going to beat him 4 out of 7. But I'm going to stop. Well, I mean, there's some very simple ways that the Thunder can win four games in the series. I mean, look, Victor was unbelievable. I don't think they're simple at all. Well, okay. Victor was unbelievable in the game. However, Shaggo's Alexander was awful most of the game. Chad Holmgren was horrible the entire game. The Thunder repeatedly had two-on-one fast breaks and got no points out of them. They look like the Pistons. There were five or six times when they had what looked like wide open layups and did not convert a basket period. So half the time they didn't get a shot up in them. They're one of the best fast-breaking teams off of the turnovers we've ever seen. I don't think that's going to continue. They also, in the first half of the game in particular, missed about 1,000 wide open shots. Now, Aluc Caruso hit a ton of threes in this game, and that obviously is not something that's going to carry over. But look, I would say if Victor goes for 41 and 24 for seven games in the series, yes, I think the Spurs will win the series. I would also say that the Thunder, as the game went on, came into the game, figured some things out, and I suspect this is going to be a very long series. But I mean, obviously, the overall headline is Victor answered the bell at every turn. And the Thunder, despite playing very badly, had this game in the bag, and no one's going to probably talk about it because they're going to focus on Victor's playing the second overtime and Victor's three-pointer that he hit on the break. The Jalen Williams possession with about 40 seconds ago and overtime cost the Thunder team the game. It was a horrific possession. Didn't pass the ball, jacked up a horrible shot, and that set up the run out that led to the Victor shot. And if the Thunder run a good play there and get a bucket, obviously the game's over. Even if they run the clock down and take a shot that's missed normally, the game might be over. But that possession is really going to haunt them if they end up blowing the series in the end, because they had the game on the racket. They let it get away, and they let Victor make an iconic play. And that pull-up three, if the Spurs go on to win the series, for as much as everything else happened the second overtime, it's going to be that pull-up three from 30 feet to people, remember? Yeah, so on that play, they get a stop. Wembe and Yamma throws the ball to Steph Castle on the left wing. And Steph's like, I don't really know what to do with it. No one else is down here. Victor, why don't you take it back? And Karuso, Alex Karuso, who played one of the games of his career tonight, had a 31 point game off the bench, had eight threes, and had, God, he was only credited with two steals, but geez, oh man, he had his hand. He made 10,000 plays in the game. He was insane. But he's defending Victor, and he's standing outside the three-point line. Victor was, I thought, exhausted. I did not anticipate him. I mean, it looked like a shot that a tired guy would take, which is not a criticism. It's like, well, we're down. I got to try to tie the game. I'm just going to shoot this open shot. And Victor's obviously capable of hitting deep threes. We've seen him hit threes plenty in his career, but I mean, he stepped right into it. He knocked it down. And again, if the Spurs go on to win this series, it very well could be because of those two plays. That very bad possession from Jaylen Williams and that three from Victor Wim and Yamat the other. Well, we're not going to overreact to game one, but there was only two. Well, it's not, but it's a, what do you say? If you give away a game, particularly at home, that is a hard thing to do. Yeah, they didn't give this one away. They didn't give this one away. I mean, this was a all-time classic heavyweight battle. Yeah, it was, but they had it on their racket and they... Victor took it from him. If Jaylen Williams doesn't have a horrible possession, he doesn't get a chance to take it from him. That's the point. I understand. You don't give a guy like that a chance. And they did and he took advantage of it. Steph Castle had to play 49 minutes of mostly point guard in this game because De'Aaron Fox was a scratch with an ankle injury. He was listening to this questionable coming in. Maybe I missed the coverage. I thought he might be horrible. I did not expect him to miss the game. So Steph Castle had to play heavy ball handling minutes and he had the ball just taken from him a bunch of times. He had 11 turnovers in this game. Now he had 11 assists, but 11 turnovers. If you have De'Aaron Fox, you're not going to have 11 turnovers from the point guard spot. And so, you know, there's some outlier situations. But Victor, number one, took the game from the Thunder. The Thunder did not play, obviously, Jay... Thunder played a poor game overall. But it was because the Spurs were imposing their will on them. Yeah. Victor was imposing their will, partially. Victor was impacting what they were doing all over the place. But what I loved was Victor only taking two threes. Well, that was the thing that stood out to me is from the beginning of the game, like we've talked about when is he at his best when he's attacking the rim. And there was no, I'm going to handle the ball on the perimeter and I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that. It was, I'm going to go down to the paint and I'm going to get the ball and I'm going to either yam it through the hole or I'm going to spin and float the ball up. Like that, I mean, he was incredible with that. Like from the beginning, there was, you could tell his intentionality and his force from the beginning of the game was I'm going to impose myself at the rim. I'm not going to give up an open shot for somebody at the rim and I'm going to be a force for my team at the rim offensively. And the Thunder couldn't do anything with it. The two big lineup went away after a couple of minutes. That didn't work. Again, Chet Holmgren was not very good in the game. They played no big lineups. I mean, Jalen Williams, I guess he's a big, but they played lineups where Hartenstein and Holmgren were on the bench. Yeah. But I mean, Chet was just very bad in the game. Like the biggest adjustment for the Thunder is he and Chet Holmgren just had to be much better. He only made two baskets. He made no baskets inside the paint, none. And they're going to have to generate some offense from Chet Holmgren and AJ Mitchell. AJ Mitchell returned to the bench roll and only went two of five. They needed to get a jump and write some offense, but I just, Victor made repeated moves and plays and whether it was just put backs or whether it was lobs or the one play and overtime where he just did a spin move and threw it up off the wrong foot and rathled it in like with just a power move. The Thunder, I do not think are, I think the Thunder were probably relatively accepting of Victor's 14 of 25. He, I think they will, the shots that he got, I think that they'll have to live with. I think the nine offensive rebounds is where he did so much of the damage. Yeah. And part of that is, I mean, part of it is he's the tallest guy on the court, but part of it is, they played a little bit smaller and he had small guys on him. When you have Lou Doherty or Alex Caruso on him and they're trying to box him out, you're going to give up offensive rebounds. You know what I'm saying? And so that, but I just loved Victor's mindset going in and he's plus 16 in this game. And Shay goes to sell Alexander is minus 15. At the other end, the Spurs followed up. Well, they basically, they basically were on the court every second together. So the plus minus is going to be tied to that. Right. So Shay, so basically the Spurs followed up on what JJ Reddick did in the last round, which was sell out to stop Shay. And they were throwing all kinds of bodies at him. And that was one of the reasons why Caruso was open so much is that they were just flying off of him. And so, you know, he did, so he's got seven of 23 obviously off his game. That said, he had several huge baskets in the fourth quarter. He did have 12 fourth quarter points. But only two points in overtime, which was that dunk that he had to put the thunder up for, which I actually in the first overtime, which I actually thought might push them over the edge. Yeah. So Shay is obviously not going to go seven of 23. But, you know, and he had 12 assists in the game. He was a willing passer. But the game play on the way it's set up here, they are going to need more consistency. They did hit 17 threes. But they didn't get much consistency from the other supporting offensive players. Jaden Williams had 26, but 11 of 25. And as you mentioned, he had a couple of possessions. Yeah, I mean, they got a lot of wide open shots and they didn't hit them. And Shay, the first three quarters of the game was totally out of sorts. He never got in a rhythm. He got in a rhythm finally in the fourth quarter. But then even then he took a couple of hero shots. A.J. Mitchell took a pull up three hero shot on a fast break. Like the thunder just, the thunder gave away at least 10 points in this game in fast break situations where they usually are devastating and just absolutely obliterate teams. So like I said, I mean, I know they lost a home game, but I think this is going to be a very long series still. And I think there's a lot of things that they can that they can improve on. And do much better going forward in the series. But yeah, I mean, the Spurs, you know, they started the youngest team ever in a conference finals game. Their guys all stepped up and played well. Dylan Harper, I mean, it's funny. Dylan Harper had 24 points in one turnover and 47 minutes. He was the one playing point guard a lot of the time. And one turnover with the thunder slapping at the ball every second. That's that's really strong. I mean, one play that sort of summed up the game for Oklahoma City was there was a possession. I want to say is the end of regulation when Dylan Harper nearly lost the ball four times and then got fouled. But he just sort of wound up with the ball with half a second to go on the shot clock and got two free throws out of it. That was sort of a lot of how the game went. Like, you know, the ball kind of bounced. I felt like San Antonio's way a lot of the time. But Harper was unbelievable. And I'm not certain they're better with De'Aaron Fox playing minutes that Dylan Harper would normally play. Because you because Caso had 11 turnovers. Fox would have been they they had stretches in the fourth quarter, especially where they couldn't really get into their offense. And some of us was fatigue based. If they had had a De'Aaron Fox, they would have seen a De'Aaron Fox as a 24, 11, 6 and 7 steal game in the series with one turnover. My guess is he will not have a game that good. But I'm talking about Caso with 11 turnovers. That's fine. I'm saying I think that if you're taking away Dylan Harper minutes, which they will be, to play De'Aaron Fox, I am not sure that's a net positive. Well, you're taking away Steph Castle usage possessions, which I think would be helpful. And you're taking away Dylan Harper usage. Dylan Harper is awesome. Well, I'm just telling you. And his size really gave the really gave the Thunder a lot of problems in this game. The 11 turnovers that Steph Castle had was a lifeblood for the Thunder for some of this game. I just when push comes to so they've played six times this year, you can throw one of them out because Thunder bench their players, but they've played five times legitimately. Sure. And the Spurs are four in one. Yeah. So and one but Yamaha, I just, I mean, like the thing about it is, is that when you have a close game, the ultimate cheat code has been Jaylen Williams. I'm sorry, has been a Shagillus Alexander. He every 50 50 game every 47 53 game, like I don't know what percentage you would give. He knows is across the lines why one clutch player of the year. Victor kind of can neutralize that. Well, and that's why I look at it. I look at it and say four and seven. Well, that's why I go back to that possession at the end of regulation or at the end of the first overtime because she had done that. He had that dunk. He got them ahead. They had the game in the bag and Jaylen Williams took the ball. She didn't touch it. He shot. He jacked up an awful shot that I don't even think hit the rim and he gave Victor a chance to get back in the game. And that again in a series like this, that possession that 20 seconds back and forth, very well in 10, 12, 14 days, we could look back and if the spurs advance, that right there might be the difference. And that's where the margins in this series are that small. Like perhaps possessions like that in that spot, you just can't perhaps, but perhaps Victor finds another way to get it to a second. Okay, sure. Yes, your discovery is amazing. At the point is he is an amazing player and you can't give him that opportunity. And the Thunder had found a way back ahead in the game. For all the other amazing things that happened, that back and forth is not going to be remembered enough because they gave Victor an opening and he jammed it through. And he was like, I'm not going to be denied. And if they had one good possession there, they win this game and everything feels different. Victor had this insane game, the Thunder were awful for most of the game, and yet they still get away to win it all. Right? I actually, I don't think the Thunder were awful. They obviously played below their standard, but this, I mean, their best two players, their best two players played well below average games. And they, I mean, they were, they were awful in, yeah, I mean, they got a lot of points in transition, but they, they repeatedly screwed up two on one breaks and stuff they always did. And I'm not arguing that the Spurs are winning 4-0. What I'm arguing is I don't know how you beat, I'm starting to just decide, I don't know how you beat them 4 out of 7. That's what I'm, Well, yes, giving away a game you had in the bag is certainly makes it harder, which is all the point I'm trying to make. And we're like, All right, well, a couple of things here. Some stats from Jackson. Wembenyama is a first player with 35 points and 20 rebounds in a conference finals game since Barclay in 93. Pretty good. Not first conference finals game. Any conference finals game. Okay. He is 22 years old. He passes Luhal Sindar as the youngest player ever with 40 and 20 in a playoff game. Yep. 40 and 20. I mean, so long ago that Karim was still Luhal Sindar. Wembenyama, and here's again, this goes back to my point about the 4 out of 7. Okay. And you know, and you've been a big believer in Harper ever since he was at Rutgers. And I'm not saying that you were the only one. I'm just saying that you were an advocate of Harper before he was the number two player. But Wembenyama, Castle and Harper are the first trio of teammates, 22 or younger, each to have a double, double in a playoff game in NBA history. That right there is, by the way, Castle. Yeah, look, this thing, Castle has double, double, by the way. Yeah. Like I said on yesterday's podcast, this thing might be a wrap. If these guys win the series, it's probably a wrap for a while if they're healthy. Like, well, because they're, you know, I mean, the Thunder are awesome and they're going to keep coming back. But like, these three guys are just going to get better. And especially Dylan Harper and Victor Wembenyama are just going to keep getting better. And again, there's not enough talk about, there won't be enough talk tomorrow about Dylan Harper's game either. Last thing I want to say is I thought the game was well coached on both sides. I thought both coaches made good strategic moves. I thought both coaches had good ATO plays, like for example, the play that Mitch Johnson drew up at the end of, was it the first overtime or regulation? Yeah, the first overtime to get Steph Castle, the curler onto the rim. I actually think the Thunder left a lot on the table that way too. I mean, Mark Dagnall went with this starting lineup, which I would have said beforehand was the right thing to do, the one he's had all year with Isaiah Hartenstein. He bailed on it two minutes in because it was a disaster and couldn't work. I don't think he'll go back to that in game two. Having Alus Caruso and Jaylin Williams out at the start of the second overtime, I understood why he did it in the moment, but that didn't work either. Got the Thunder off on the wrong foot in the period. They never really got back together after that. He had some regular season. Well, Jaylin Williams had his played in a month. I understand, but I mean, Lou Dort was unaffected in the game and he had him out there in the second overtime for a minute and a half and they got down four and never got back in the game. So like, I understand they're in a compromised position, but Aaron Wiggins played some in the game. The Thunder felt like they kind of treated it like a regular season game in the first half. I thought it was a well-cooked game. I liked, you know, Mitch Johnson went to zone in the second overtime. There was a ton of strategic stuff. I mean, it's Johnson was great. I mean, they dialed up all kinds of stuff. They won a game on the road with the Aaron Fox not playing with a rookie point guard having 24, 11, 6 and 7 and the guy who, you know, remember sitting watching the draft lottery three years ago and Adrian Wuergenowski said, by the third year in the league, this guy might be the best offensive defensive player in the league. And Adrian is not a guy who is prone to a lot of hyperbole. And I remember looking at Alonzo Morning, he was sitting down the bar for me at the Ritz in Boston was like, whoa, that was a statement. And that might be where he's at. He said it multiple times. Like, I think it was like, you know, he didn't just get lost in the moment. He said it multiple times. Yeah, he did. But I remember sitting there watching the draft lottery and him saying that and being like, wow, like that's aggressive. And here we are. The guys in his third year in the league, he's in the conference finals. He had 41 and 24 was the best player on the court with the MVP. And we talked about the David Robinson, a keen thing. And this was the David Robinson, a keen thing at least played out in one game. They handed out the trophy before the game and Victor was the dominant force in the game and got a win on Casey's own court. But I don't think it was out of spite. Oh, I do. I think Hakim had already, you know, Hakim was the reigning MVP and reigning finals MVP in the reign of chance. This was with just as much spite. It was with just as much spite. Victor Almonyama has as an ego as big as his wingspan. It's part of why he's going to make it. It wasn't like he took 15 shots in the first quarter and wanted to score. He came out with an intent to dominate. And that's what he did. And I just think that he's going to come on with an intent to dominate for the foreseeable future. He is, but that didn't, that, trust me, the Spurs were very happy that that ceremony was happening yesterday and today. And he stepped up and had an all time epic game in response. I know who the MVP of game one was. That's right. That one is settled. All right. Thank you for joining us for this emergency pod. Thank you to Jackson and Rafa for putting it together. Very late. We'll be back with you with a podcast. It comes out on Wednesday morning following game one of Cavs versus Nix, which has a lot to live up to over here in the Eastern Conference. Thank you for listening and watching, and we'll talk to you later this week. Goodbye, friends.
