The San Antonio Spurs stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-91 in front of a home crowd at the Frost Bank Center on Thursday night.
In the most pivotal game of his young career, Victor Wembanyama scored 28 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in limited minutes to send the series back to Oklahoma. This comes after a deflating loss in Game 5, where Wemby only made four field goals all night. A frustrated Wembanyama shocked NBA media by walking right past his postgame interview to get back to the team bus to rest for Game 6.
The Oklahoma City Thunder struggled immensely against the home team all night. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had his worst performance of the season, scoring only 15 points on 33% shooting and sitting on the bench for the entire fourth quarter. The MVP struggled to draw contact and get to the free throw line all night. Multiple Spurs defended him throughout the night, keeping him from getting into rhythm offensively.
The Thunder relied on their bench for offensive and defensive production, while their starters struggled on both ends of the floor. Reserve guards Jared McCain, Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso made energetic plays to give the Thunder life at the end of the first half, but nothing stopped the Spurs in the third quarter.
The Spurs went on a 20-0 scoring run halfway through the third quarter. During this stretch, the Thunder missed 15 field goals in a row, essentially handing the Spurs the win. The Thunder flatlined for the remainder of the game, sitting their starters for the last 14 minutes of regulation.
Even during this 20-0 run, Spurs All-Star De’Aaron Fox continued to struggle offensively. Fox finally made his only field goal of the game in the second half, finishing the game shooting an abysmal 11% from the field. Fox has remained inconsistent this postseason, before and after his ankle injury in the second round against Minnesota. The Spurs will need its starting point guard in peak form for the do-or-die Game 7 in Oklahoma.
Game 6 marks the fifth blowout game in a row this series. The only game decided by less than 10 points was the double overtime thriller of Game 1. While fans expected all-out war for 48 minutes every night, most games in this series have been decided in the third quarter.
The Thunder and Spurs will face off in a decisive Game 7 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on Saturday at 7 p.m. The winner will be headed to the NBA Finals to face off against the well-rested New York Knicks.
