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Spurs suddenly stand 3 wins away from first NBA Finals since 2014 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The San Antonio Spurs walked into one of the loudest buildings in basketball Monday night without De’Aaron Fox, staring down a 64-win Oklahoma City Thunder team that many believed was ready to own the Western Conference for years.
Then Victor Wembanyama reminded the NBA that the future may already belong to San Antonio instead. In an instant-classic double-overtime thriller, Wembanyama delivered a performance that felt larger than a single playoff game, carrying the Spurs to a stunning 122-115 Game 1 victory and suddenly putting San Antonio just three wins away from its first NBA Finals appearance since 2014.
This was not just another big stat line. This felt like the arrival of basketball’s next all-time great playoff superstar.
Victor Wembanyama took over the Western Conference Finals
The final numbers barely looked real. Forty-one points. Twenty-four rebounds. Three blocks. Nine offensive rebounds. Fifty-two minutes against the NBA’s best defense on the road in the Western Conference Finals.
Wembanyama did everything Monday night. He controlled the paint. He erased mistakes. He turned loose rebounds into second chances. He survived Oklahoma City’s physicality and answered nearly every big Thunder moment with something even bigger.
And somehow, the game announced his dominance almost immediately. Less than two minutes into Game 1, Wembanyama missed a tip shot near the rim. Then he grabbed another offensive rebound. Missed again. Grabbed another rebound. Missed again. Then finally powered home the putback through traffic.
Three offensive rebounds on one possession. That sequence perfectly captured what this game became.
The Thunder could slow him for a second. They could never actually stop him.
MORE: The Thunder have one terrifying advantage that could decide the entire Spurs series
The Spurs suddenly look terrifying for the rest of the NBA
For years, San Antonio’s future felt theoretical. The Spurs had history. They had Gregg Popovich. They had the most gifted young player basketball had seen in years. But playoff basketball changes everything.
Potential has to become proof. Now the Spurs suddenly have proof. They just stole Game 1 on the road against the West’s top seed while missing Fox, who was ruled out before tipoff with an ankle injury. And they did it because their young core looked completely fearless.
Stephon Castle finished with 17 points and 11 assists while repeatedly attacking Oklahoma City’s defense late in the game. Dylan Harper added 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals in a postseason performance that looked wildly mature for a rookie playing on this stage.
But everything kept circling back to Wembanyama. Every rebound felt crushing for Oklahoma City. Every defensive possession changed because of his presence. Every overtime moment felt like it belonged to him.
That is what true superstars do in May.
They bend entire games around themselves.
San Antonio is starting to feel the magic again
The Spurs have spent the last decade searching for the feeling they once owned. From 1999 through 2014, San Antonio was the model franchise in basketball. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili built one of sports’ greatest dynasties and made deep playoff runs feel routine.
Then it disappeared. Duncan retired. Kawhi Leonard left. The playoff streak ended. The Spurs became just another rebuilding franchise trying to rediscover relevance.
Now the league is watching that feeling return in real time. The Spurs won 62 games this season, reclaimed the Southwest Division and now hold home-court momentum in the Western Conference Finals after stealing Game 1 in Oklahoma City.
But bigger than all of that is the realization forming around the NBA after Monday night:
Victor Wembanyama may already be good enough to bring San Antonio another championship era. And suddenly, that possibility no longer feels far away.
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