Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs appear to have found an answer to defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder. With a massive 117-102 win against the top-seeded team in the West, the Spurs seem to have the Thunder’s number.
With their third consecutive win over OKC this season, emerging as one of only three teams to beat them, the Spurs are impressive. Despite a 3-0 record against the Thunder, however, Victor Wembanyama remains grounded in his perception of the team.
“I definitely learned a lot,” Wembanyama said. “I mean, this is like a playoff series. We beat them three times… We learned a lot on the tactical side… I don’t want to say too much about it. I want to keep something for us. We definitely got some more intelligence after playing this much.”
Victor Wembanyama’s approach toward playing the Thunder seems akin to facing them in the playoffs. Having understood that any path to the NBA championship runs through Oklahoma, Wembanyama and the Spurs are effectively priming themselves to overcome the obstacles in front of them.
For the most part, this has yielded positive results. With a Christmas Day win, the Spurs have improved to 23-7 on the season. Now placed second in the Western Conference standings, San Antonio finds itself only two and a half games behind OKC.
The Thunder Don’t Have An Answer For Victor Wembanyama
After three matchups this season, it seems quite evident that the Thunder do not have an answer for Victor Wembanyama.
OKC operates with an elite big man rotation featuring Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. Holmgren’s defensive presence and floor spacing ability pair beautifully with Hartenstein’s rebounding and playmaking versatility. Together, the two have formed an elite frontcourt pair.
However, this doesn’t seem to work very well against the Spurs.
While Wembanyama has won games against the Thunder’s big man duo, he hasn’t necessarily been dominant on the offensive end. Against OKC, the Spurs’ big man is averaging 17.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game this season.
Although his shooting efficiency has been impressive, with 53.3% shooting from the field and 80.0% from three-point range in this stretch, it is clear that his impact has merely been a product of his presence on the floor.
On this note, Thursday night’s game was a testament to his ability to influence the game without dominating the stat sheet. Since he was coming off the bench with a minutes restriction, Victor Wembanyama was already playing in a limited capacity. Despite this, the big man posted 19 points, 11 rebounds, and two assists.
This essentially opened up OKC’s defense, allowing De’Aaron Fox (29 points, four rebounds, and three assists) and Stephon Castle (19 points, four rebounds, and seven assists) to score with efficiency.
To say that the Spurs have the Thunder figured out may seem like an exaggeration. But after icing the regular season series against the best in the West, San Antonio can certainly back up that claim.
