The San Antonio Spurs outlasted the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-115 in double overtime on Monday, taking a 1-0 series lead.
Monday’s matchup was a gritty game of defense that saw the Spurs stay slightly ahead virtually all game.
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Strong play on both ends allowed the Spurs to jump out to a quick 7-0 advantage, but OKC’s patented offense recovered well and both squads had 27 points after 12 minutes.
The Spurs weren’t exactly hot on offense in the second, but they kept the Thunder’s offense completely cold at the same time. OKC manages to score just 17 points in the second frame as the Spurs led by seven at halftime.
The third frame was both close and exciting as Victor Wembanyama continued to lead the way on offense for San Antonio. For OKC, they had an unexpected hero in Alex Caruso.
He was lethal from everywhere on the floor, taking full control on offense.
In the final quarter, OKC made clutch plays on defense to get some stops and trim the lead. Down the stretch, hustle plays and defense became paramount as scoring slowed tremendously.
After a quiet night, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander grabbed a crucial steal before OKC tied it with free throws.
With 11 seconds to play, Wembanyama hit a tough hook shot to take a two-point lead, but Gilgeous-Alexander delivered with a game-tying layup with three seconds to play.
Wembanyama tried a floater off the inbound, but Chet Holmgren rejected the shot to force overtime.
In the extra period, Wembanyama was huge on the glass and got a putback layup to go, pulling ahead by five. That’s when Alex Caruso sank another three before Jalen Williams threw down a lead-taking fastbreak dunk with two minutes to go.
After getting a huge stop on defense, SGA threw down a huge dunk to go ahead by three. With the pressure high, Wembanyama sank a 28-foot bomb to tie it up with 26 seconds to go.
OKC failed to score on the other end and the matchup went to double overtime. In the second extra period, Wembanyama dominated both sides of the ball. He threw down a number of dunks while blocking shots on the other end, helping the Spurs come out on top.
He finished the game with a staggering 41 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks while Dylan Harper had 24 points and 11 rebounds.
For OKC, Caruso finished with 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting while SGA put up 24 points and 12 assists.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
