By Oliver Carter
The San Antonio Spurs buried the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-91 in game six of their Western Conference Finals match-up.
The game took place on Thursday night at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.
Back-to-front domination
Needing to win to keep their season alive, the San Antonio Spurs came out firing, taking an early lead that they held for the rest of the game.
San Antonio looked like a well-oiled machine as they were able to counter the Thunder’s game-five adjustments perfectly, utilising Victor Wembanyama far more effectively on both sides of the court.
Wembanyama was aggressive in the first quarter, scoring 11 points and grabbing five rebounds as he dropped in three three-pointers to set the tone.
The Spurs did well to simplify their game, focusing on ball security and making sure they didn’t lose the turnover battle nor the three-point battle.
In the end, Wembanyama was the only player with over 20 points in the entire game.
He scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to go with two assists, two steals and three blocks.
The Spurs’ young supporting cast stepped up too as Stephon Castle added 17 points, five rebounds, nine assists and a steal with just one turnover.
Dylan Harper also had 18 points, six rebounds and four assists.
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Thunder’s offensive struggles continue
Oklahoma City have scored under 100 points just four times in their last two play-off runs, two of which have come in this series against the Spurs.
San Antonio seem to have found the key to shutting down the Thunder’s depth.
OKC’s top scorer this game was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who only managed to score 15 points, followed by Jared McCain with 13 and Cason Wallace with 11.
While the Spurs can take credit for forcing the Thunder to take bad shots, the injuries OKC have suffered will also affect the flow of their offence.
Ajay Mitchell, who thrived in the first two rounds, picked up an injury early in game three and hasn’t played in the series since.
Mitchell averaged 22.5 points and six assists in the first round.
Mitchell’s absence has clearly impacted the Thunder’s ability to create offence through an outlet other than Gilgeous-Alexander.
Jalen Williams, the Thunder’s usual second option, has also missed part of the series through injury.
He picked up an injury in game two and missed games three, four and five before making a return for game six.
However, he clearly wasn’t ready to play as he scored one point in 10 minutes of play while struggling to get up and down the court.
The Spurs have been very impressive defensively, but the series may have looked very different if Mitchell and Williams were healthy.
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Preparing for game seven
Every time one of these teams seems to have figured the other out, the following game proves you wrong.
So, while it looks as if the Spurs have worked out how to stop the Thunder, game seven is sure to be very different.
Game seven will also take place in Oklahoma City, giving the Thunder the added boost of the incredible home support they are so famous for.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will need to have a better game if the Thunder want to close out the series.
Mitchell is not expected to return, so all offensive creation is going to have to come from the Canadian MVP.
Wembanyama will also need to have another big game, better than game five in Oklahoma City, when he massively struggled in only managing to shoot 4/15 from the field.
He’ll have to put that performance behind him and come up big in his first career game seven.
Whoever comes out on top will then take on the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.
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