Biggest takeaways from Wemby’s Game 1 takeover in Spurs-Thunder instant classic

OK, what did we just witness? Victor Wembanyama delivering a performance for the ages — a 40-20! — and leading the Spurs to a 122-115 win in double OT against the defending champion Thunder in Game 1 of a Western Conference finals matchup that delivered on all the hype? We must break this down.

What’s your take on Wemby’s Game 1 performance?

Steve Jones: The image of Wemby staring at the Spurs bench and all of them reacting in different ways says it all.

It was an unreal performance on both ends of the floor. Disruptive on defense, making adjustments to keep OKC in a box. Timely and loud on offense. That deep logo 3 to tie the game will echo in the headphones of history. I remember the first time these two teams matched up this season and the overwhelming feeling that Wemby did not enjoy the Thunder. For that to progress into 41 and 24 in OKC’s building to take Game 1 of the WCF is something special. 

Tom Haberstroh: It was a global inflection point. NBA junkies have been talking about Victor Wembanyama’s takeover for months, if not years, but the general public probably needed something like 41-24-3-3 for it to really, REALLY sink in. He’s the best player in the world and now people are starting to see what us sickos have been preaching throughout the season.

Dan Devine: I can’t believe he finished that strong. Watching Wembanyama late in the fourth quarter and in the first overtime, I thought he was completely gassed. He was fouling on both ends, gettinggot by unrequited nemesis Chet Holmgren, and walking back up the floor. He was just a split-secondlate on rotations, and just off-balance enough that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could bump him off to finally create some space. He lost the ball in the paint, and missed a bunny at the rim.

And, like, of course he was exhausted! With 30 seconds left in OT, Wembanyama had played just under 43 minutes — mere seconds shy of his previous high-water mark for playing time, which came in the dying days of his rookie season, in a game featuring nothing approaching the absurd level brand of intensity, focus and execution that Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against an all-time opponent requires.

And yet!

Minutes 43 through 49 saw Wembanyama take four shots, make four shots, snuff out (by my count) at least a half-dozen would-be Thunder attempts, and outscore Oklahoma City by himself 12-7. Just an unreal closing kick — emphatic, imperial. Sovereign.

What’s your take on Spurs-Thunder after Game 1?

Haberstroh: The Thunder still have no answer for Wemby. Just when you thought the smaller Alex Caruso matchup was giving the Spurs center fits, Wembanyama took over in the second overtime. He outscored the entire Thunder team from the moment he pulled up from 30 feet at the end of the first overtime, and that was that. If Wemby can be a star offensively, this series is over. The defense is already suffocating.

Devine: All of the reasons why San Antonio was a brutal matchup for Oklahoma City during the regular season still stand, and the Thunder have to be able to meet the Spurs’ level of physicality — looking at you, Chet Holmgren, unable to anchor against Dylan Harper down low and getting packed at the rim by Devin Vassell — to renegotiate the terms of engagement.

Jones: An incredible basketball series already. Just swing after swing after swing. Alex Caruso making eight 3s. Dylan Harper tallying a 24/11/6/7. Wemby’s presence on defense throwing a hitch into the OKC machine. The Thunder trying to move Wemby around the board to find gaps. The Spurs adjusting to counter. The Spurs trying to establish their guards, and the Thunder working to take that away. Multiple people trying to guard Wembanyama, and the Spurs saying, “We are absolutely attacking this.” How can you not love the game of basketball? 

True or False: Wemby is the ‘best player in the f***in’ world.’

Devine: This is a real “momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher”-ass question. You ask it on March 9, it’s SGA; you ask it on April 4, it’s Jokić; you ask it on May 19, it’s Wemby. All of which is to say: I don’t know if he always is, definitively. But he sure as hell can be.

Jones: There is an argument to be made and I would listen and nod. He is a one-of-one defensive player (not just because of the size, but because of his mind), but I am not quite there yet because — and it feels odd to type this considering he dropped 41 points — his offense hasn’t fully gotten to “not much we can do.” However, he’s a pending charge, he’s autopay, it’s coming whether you are ready or not. 

Haberstroh: True.In my mind, it happened even before his masterpiece in Game 1 on Monday night. Wembanyama bends worlds on defense so he can control the game without even scoring a point. Because of the two-way dominance of Wemby, SGA would have to average something like 40 points in this series for me to believe Wemby hasn’t snatched the torch.

What will you be watching in Game 2?

Jones: What adjustments will OKC make to get its offense going? The Spurs gave it their all, but OKC not only hung around but was in position to win in the 4th and OT. We have seen the nights where SGA makes the shots regardless of the defensive scheme. If he combines that with drives, what does that do to the Spurs’ defense? Will OKC be more decisive on offense and do a better job containing the Spurs guards? How do the Spurs handle the minutes when Wemby is off the court? Is this “J-Dub/Chet play better” at the end of the day? 

Devine: Does Thunder coach Mark Daigneault feel like the game plan to primarily guard Wembanyama with smalls — Caruso, Jalen Williams, Luguentz Dort — and then shading a second defender his way or bringing a hard double worked well enough to stick with it? It’s hard to see the forest for the trees after a performance like that, but OKC was up by three with the ball with 40 seconds to go in overtime despite Wembanyama’s monster first 43 minutes, and that the Spurs’ offensive rating in Wemby’s floor time — 109.3 — would’ve ranked 29th in the NBA during the regular season. When he looks back at the film, will he feel pretty good about OKC’s defensive process, or will he think he needs to shake it up and play it straight by having Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams take more of the matchup?

Haberstroh: Fatigue, fatigue, fatigue. Not just Wemby, who played more minutes than he has in his entire NBA career, but I’m also watching Jalen Williams on the OKC side. He played with impressive zip and aggression in Game 1 coming off his hamstring injury, but those muscle fibers are notoriously temperamental. I don’t think anyone will look fresh in Game 2 on Wednesday night, but the J-Dub factor will be fundamental to the Thunder avoiding a dreaded 2-0 deficit going to San Antonio.