The San Antonio Spurs are 3.5-point betting favorites to win Thursday’s Game 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder and extend the Western Conference Finals to a winner-takes-all Game 7.
The news is music to the ears of Spurs fans, who were left anxious after the team’s 127-114 loss in Game 5. The most worrying aspect of the loss was that Victor Wembanyama shot 26.7% from the field (4-of-15) and collected just six rebounds, including one in the first half. Wemby was also not his usual dominant self on the defensive side, as Isaiah Hartenstein shot over 60% when the Defensive Player of the Year was the primary defender, and other Thunder players got to the rim comfortably.
Is Wemby Fatigued vs Thunder?
Former two-time NBA champion Danny Green sounded the alarm bells ahead of Game 6, suggesting that the Thunder’s physical defense is wearing Wemby down.
“To me, it looks like the fatigue is on Victor. His legs weren’t there, and neither were his energy or activity,” Green told ESPN’s “NBA Today” on Wednesday.
“I think that overtime game [in Game 1] and the overall minutes are starting to add up when it comes to [Victor Wembanyama]. And his rebounds are a direct reflection on his activity level. When he’s rebounding, it shows his activity.”
Further to Green’s point, Wemby had just one rebound in the first half of Tuesday’s loss, as he was kept away from the rim on both ends of the floor by OKC’s bruisers. The Frenchman collected a combined 32 rebounds in the Spurs’ Game 1 and Game 4 wins.
ESPN highlighted that the Spurs are 7-2 this postseason when Wemby has eight or more rebounds, and 2-4 when he collects fewer than eight boards.
Spurs Game 7 Record
The Spurs obviously need a better performance from Wemby in Game 6. Specifically, head coach Mitch Johnson wants his young superstar to attempt more than 15 shots.
“He’s got to take more than 15 shots,” Johnson said, via ESPN’s Michael C. Wright.
“Even with the [12] free throws, he’s going to have to score more than 20 points for sure.”
Johnson credited Thunder’s defensive gameplan to contain Wemby in Game 5, but vowed to make the necessary adjustments in a do-or-die Game 6.
“OKC did a good job [on Wemby]. We’ve got to do a better job,” Johnson said.
“That’s probably the easiest in terms of when you [look at] surface-level stuff that he’ll definitely need to take more shots. But there’s a lot of things all over the place. Even when we had advantages, we just didn’t make simple plays and take advantage of the opportunity, that possession.”
The San Antonio Spurs are historically 4-7 in Game 7s, but haven’t won such a high-stakes game since their Game 7 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2014 playoffs. Worryingly, the Spurs have lost their last three Game 7s on the road — 2019 vs Nuggets, 2015 vs Clippers and 2013 vs Heat (NBA Finals).
Spurs vs Thunder Game 6 tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. If the Spurs can stave off elimination, there will be a Game 7 on Saturday night in Oklahoma City.
Spurs Get Good News Before Do-or-Die Game 6 vs Thunder