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San Antonio — The Western Conference Finals are heading to a Game 7. The Spurs forced it after a dominant 118-91 victory over the Thunder on Thursday night at Frost Bank Center. This is the first time since 2018 that the Western Conference Finals have gone to seven games.

The Spurs got help not only from Wemby, who recovered from a poor performance in Game 5, but also from Harper, who had been underperforming in this series. Harper delivered a performance similar to his showing in Game 1, contributing significantly to the victory.

Takeaways from Game 6

Thunder: This team came into this game knowing that the Spurs were going to play differently, and the Spurs did so. The Thunder got punched in the mouth by the Spurs’ defense and offense. Especially in that third quarter, where the Thunder typically have been the better team all season long, in the second half didn’t score until the seventh-minute mark.

Shai, throughout this series, has looked like a shadow of himself. The back-to-back MVP has been averaging 24 points per game on 37.9% from field goal and 26.1% from three. And in this game, he looked unplayable. He couldn’t find ways around this Spurs’ suffocating defense. He isn’t the only one to blame for this loss, but he is their superstar, and it starts and ends with him.

Everyone outside of Cason Wallace and Chet Holmgren played without passion. As a team, the offensive rating for this game was 93.3, and the defensive rating was 121. As a team, they’ve been caught giving up unnecessary fouls that they don’t need to be committing. They have committed a total of 140 fouls in this series to the Spurs’ 131.

Cason Wallace and Chet, as mentioned before, were the only good Thunder players on the floor. Cason ended his night with 11 points on 66.7% from the field and 75% from three. Cason also had a rating of 121 on offense and 110 on defense.

Chet had a good game, scoring 10 points, 2 blocks, and 11 rebounds, 4 of which were offensive boards on 50% from the field. He had 133 offensive rating and 112 defensive rating.

Jalen Williams came back and played only three-minute stretches in this game and also came off the bench. He looked former shell of himself coming back from reinjuring his hamstring. It felt like his comeback was messing with the teams. This team has looked good without him, but they fell off when he checked into the game.

Spurs: Wemby was coming into this looking to avenge the performance he had in the last game. He ended the first half with 22 points on 56% from the field and 50% from three. His final stat line was 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He bounced back, he was a threat everywhere on the court, he didn’t look afraid contesting shots at the rim or being around the paint.

Dylan Harper was what the Spurs needed in this game in order to force a Game 7, and they got that from him. Since Game 1, he looked like he had disappeared in this series, but in this game, it was the opposite. He attacked the rim no matter who was guarding him. He finished with 18 points on 66.7% from the field with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.  

Everyone on this Spurs team forced the Thunder to take highly contested shots and was great at closing out on Thunder shooters who were forced to make extra passes. Defensively, the Spurs’ starting lineup didn’t have a defensive rating below 99, and as a team their rating overall was 93.3. They also didn’t get in much foul trouble this game, as they’ve had before, only having 14 fouls as a team.

Offensively, they didn’t struggle as they did in Game 5, other than De’Aaron Fox, but as a team, their rating was 121. Castle dropped 9 assists, and Fox dished out 7 of his own, with the team as a whole having 30 assists overall. The bench came up big in the non-Wemby minutes with Harper’s performance.

Fox was the only one of the Spurs players who played meaningful minutes who was the only one struggling to score. He had 5 points on 11% shooting with a rating of 92. But he was still making the right passes at the right moment, having 7 assists. He also made up for poor offense with effective defense.

Looking ahead

Thunder: Heading into Game 7 of this series, the Thunder can’t be the same team as they were in Game 6, plain and simple. They also won’t be the same team. Mark will make adjustments to the lineups, I believe, by not starting Lu Dort, who was terrible offensively last game; instead, they will start Caruso over Dort. Caruso, who, when on the court, has a net rating of +21.5 in these playoffs.

Shai has to come out into this winner-takes-all game to prove everyone wrong about how he’s played in this series. He needs to have the memory of a goldfish, forgetting his other performances being inefficient in this series. I believe he will come out into this game as a different player than he’s been in this series, looking more like the player we saw in the regular season.

Since Jalen Williams will be back in this game, do you start him or keep him on a minutes restriction? It feels like Mark will continue to put him with the bench unit again, but you never know what he is thinking in these moments. If he does start, how many minutes does he play with the starters, and how effective will he be offensively? That’s something we’ll have to wait and see.

The Thunder’s defense needs to find ways to keep the other Spurs players from being a factor in this game. You can’t let Harper beat you like he did last game, find ways to make him uncomfortable, same goes with everyone else. They also need to stop committing fouls that I think most people think are unnecessary.

Offensively everyone needs to find ways to score. They looked scared to shoot the ball anywhere on the floor. In this game, they will need to take those highly contested shots before the Spurs defenders close out.  

Spurs: Wemby will need another performance as he had in the last game. Everyone will need to perform the same as they did before to win and close out this series, and if they don’t, then they obviously lose.

It all starts with Wemby; he’s been the best player in this series with some subpar performances. He can’t be afraid to attack a mismatch or get lost when defending a smaller player. Shooting-wise, he needs to be on his A game; he can’t have a lackluster performance. He needs to start off with a hot start; everything else will come, but offense is the most important part.

Spurs need to have another hero. Castle, who played well last game and has played below expectations in this series. He needs to stay out of foul trouble when defending, keep the ball protected, and be effective as he has been with his playmaking ability. Harper, I believe, won’t have the same performance as he had in the last game, so Castle needs to step up as he did in the Timberwolves series.

Another potential hero for the Spurs could be any one of the starters, but Fox is the one they need the most. Fox needs to step up big he suspposed to be the Spurs’ second option offensively, but he hasn’t been that at all in this series. He has been effective in finding teammates open, but will need to find his shot for them to close out this game.

Predictions

My prediction for Game 7 of this series will be the Thunder closing out the Spurs to advance and play the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. The final score of this game will be 123-116.

This Thunder has been dominant in winning the next, coming off a loss in the last two seasons in the playoffs. With a record of 8-0, they can bounce back after the performance they just had. Shai will find his form once again and drop 30 points on 55% from the field on 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in the victory.

Game of the Western Conference Finals will be on Saturday, May 30th in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at the Paycom Center at 7:00 PM CT. You can watch it on NBC/Peacock.