Starting 5: Spurs win epic Game 7, face Knicks in NBA Finals

An unforgettable series.

An unrelenting Game 7.

An unbreakable San Antonio spirit.

Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs are Western Conference champions.

The 2026 NBA Finals are next.

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5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀

May 31, 2026

Spurs Win Classic: Wemby & San Antonio outlast OKC in gutsy Game 7, advance to NBA Finals

Wemby Wins WCF MVP: Maturing through the game’s biggest moments, Wemby lets it all out in Game 7

Growing Together: The story of San Antonio’s rapid ascension to the ultimate stage

Finals First Look: Knicks vs. Spurs, Brunson vs. Wemby, strength vs. strength

West Finals Frames: An electric series of West rivals told through seven defining snapshots

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BUT FIRST … ⏰

The 2026 NBA Finals tip off in three days…

Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals gets underway on Wednesday as the West champion Spurs host the East champion Knicks on ABC (8:30 ET).

Hit the NBA Finals Hub for complete Finals coverage, including the latest news, in-depth features, full series schedule and more.

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1. WEMBY, TEAM EFFORT LEAD SPURS TO WIN IN ELECTRIC GAME 7

An all-time West Finals was down to its final quarter.

• The Thunder were 12 minutes away from a return to the NBA Finals
• The Spurs were 12 minutes away from completing their climb from the brink of elimination

Two powerhouses who refused to give an inch. Two rivals who had given each other everything they could handle.

All season long. All series long. All Game 7 long.

With an NBA Finals berth on the line – on the road against the reigning NBA champions – Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs didn’t back down from the moment.

They seized it.

Spurs 111, Thunder 103: Up three entering the 4th, Wemby (22 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk) and the Spurs put together a historic closing quarter to edge a scalding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35 pts, 9 ast, 3 stl) and OKC in an epic winner-take-all West Finals finale, sending San Antonio to its first NBA Finals since 2014 | Recap

• Spurs Strike First: San Antonio set the tone early, grabbing a 32-25 lead in the 1st quarter behind Wembanyama and Stephon Castle (16 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast)
• Thunder Strike Back: But Shai turned up, scoring 13 in the 2nd to get OKC within three at the half
• 3rd-Quarter Swings: The back-to-back Kia MVP wasn’t done, hitting tough shot after tough shot and dropping 12 in the 3rd to spark a 13-4 closing burst, countering a 16-2 Spurs run to get back within three

Then the 4th.

A seven-game, 346-minute marathon between two titans. Down to 12 minutes.

And it was the young Spurs who made it theirs.

• It Started With Rain: Keldon Johnson (11 pts) made the first move, drilling two quick 3s, before De’Aaron Fox (15 pts, 5 ast) buried another
• Fifty-three ticks later, Wemby hit a 3 of his own. Then came a Johnson layup. A 17-9 Spurs surge had suddenly stretched the lead to 97-86
• OKC’s Opening: But the Thunder answered, trimming the lead to six as Wembanyama picked up his fifth foul
• The Substitution Horn Blew: Wemby out. Luke Kornet in. 6:48 left

The Thunder were +37 in Wemby’s 96 bench minutes during the series entering Saturday. This was their chance.

Instead, it was the Spurs’ spark.

• The Block: Moments later, an Isaiah Hartenstein steal sent him streaking up the open floor. It was just him and the rim. Until a black jersey soared in: “Blocked by Kornet!”
• A meeting above the rim sent the ball flying off the backboard. Eighteen ticks later, Castle drilled a jumper for San Antonio. 99-91 Spurs

It was a four-point swing, and it swung the game for San Antonio.

Julian Champagnie (20 pts, 6 reb, 6 3s) drilled a 3 soon after. Dylan Harper (12 pts, 7 reb) tipped in an offensive board. Then sank a massive 3 of his own.

When the Thunder made one last push? The Spurs had one last answer. This time, from Castle, whose putback layup pushed San Antonio’s lead back to eight with 59 ticks left.

The Spurs could taste it. 

One Devin Vassell exclamation point later, they could feel it.

The buzzer sounded. The Spurs were Western Conference champions.

An outpouring of emotion came over Wembanyama as the Spurs embraced at center court.

They had just done something special.

Not just knock off the defending champs. Not just win an epic seven-game series that will go down in Playoff lore. Not just reach the franchise’s first NBA Finals in 12 years.

But all of the above – together. With a historic close.

• Complete Heat: Led by Johnson (8 pts, 2-2 3s) and Wemby (6 pts, 1 ast, 1-1 3s), seven Spurs scored in the 4th, as the team shot 61.1% from the field
• Singular Close: Since play-by-play tracking began in 1997-98, the Spurs are the first team to close out a Conference Finals or NBA Finals Game 7 with seven different scorers and over 60% shooting in the 4th

That 4th quarter has them four wins away from an NBA title.

• “So many big-time plays, so many guys stepping up,” said Wemby postgame. “It’s an unreal chance … living these things with these guys that I love so, so much – it’s amazing…
• “I want to have this feeling plenty, plenty more times in my life.”

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2. WEMBY WINS WEST FINALS MVP IN HISTORIC POSTSEASON DEBUT

All alone, 24 feet from the hoop, Devin Vassell caught the ball up six with six seconds left.

At the other end of the floor, Victor Wembanyama pulled his jersey over his face, overcome with emotions the moment it hit him:

Wembanyama and the Spurs were going to the NBA Finals.

From a sophomore season cut short due to deep vein thrombosis, and the life-altering implications of that, to a team goal of earning a top-6 Playoff seed, Wemby and his Spurs now sit atop the West.

• Wemby made a splash early this season through his patented thoughtful soundbites, the Spurs exceeding expectations, and the competitive challenge he issued to his fellow All-Stars
• Wemby came out hot in February’s All-Star Game, setting the intensity that made for an instant classic, and getting his flowers from the game’s best. Soon after, he was facing questions about being the ‘face’ of the league: “Supply and demand, and I’m here to supply.”
• He also supplied defensive play strong enough to claim the Kia Defensive Player of the Year award, while campaigning for more as an MVP Finalist: “I believe I’m the most impactful player, defensively, in the league.”

Walk The Walk: But the bigger the statement, the greater the accountability Wemby took, as his maturation as a leader pushed his Spurs core to new heights in the postseason.

• “That’s on me,” Wemby said after logging a triple-double with more blocks than points in the West Semis Game 1 loss to Minnesota. “I used too much energy on things that didn’t really help our team.”
• “I have trouble making my teammates better right now … I need to be more of a team player,” Wembanyama said after going down 2-1 earlier in the West Finals

Wemby got the mix and mission right when it mattered most, in Games 6 and 7. Alongside his leadership and helping his teammates, he elevated his own play.

• Playoff Pop: Wemby’s 35 points in his first postseason action against the Blazers set a franchise record for a Playoff debut and an NBA record for points in a debut half (21)
• Three & D: He’s the first player ever to collect 50+ blocks and 25+ made 3s in a single Playoff run
• Finals Giants: Wemby (27.3 ppg) became the youngest player to lead his team in scoring over a run to the Finals since 1957, joining LeBron James and Kobe Bryant as the only players age 22 or younger to do so

“He has such a vision of who he wants to be, as a person and as a player,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “And the commitment and investment that he puts into that vision is nothing like I’ve ever seen before.”

For executing that vision, Wembanyama was named the 2026 Western Conference Finals MVP. But he put the spotlight on his teammates.

“This [MVP] doesn’t mean anything but the fact that we’re a team. We got that together … for all of us.”

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3. GROWING TOGETHER: SPURS’ RAPID ASCENSION TO NBA FINALS

This unrelenting West Finals opened with an instant classic in Game 1: a double-OT thriller that Wemby took over, single-handedly outscoring OKC in the final OT to hand the Thunder their first Playoff loss.

But to hand the Thunder their fourth loss – ending their title defense and punching a ticket to the NBA Finals – it took more than one superstar.

It took a team. One that grew alongside Wemby amid his meteoric rise.

The Turnaround: Last June, the Spurs held the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft — two years removed from finishing at the bottom of the Western Conference.

Now, they’re one of just two teams left standing, marking one of the rarest single-season turnarounds in NBA history.

How’d they do it? By turning a collection of young talent into a complete team.

• Foundational Drafting: It started with three consecutive top-5 picks: Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper
• Star Development: But they weren’t just individual Lottery hits. They grew together, each taking major leaps as San Antonio quickly evolved into a contender
• Wemby’s Rise: A rapid year-by-year ascent – going from Kia Rookie of the Year in 2023-24, to All-Star in 2024-25, to Kia First Team All-NBA and an MVP finalist this season – has Wemby among the game’s elites.
• Castle’s Climb: The 2024 No. 4 overall pick followed Wemby as a Kia ROY, then took another leap this season, averaging career highs across the board (16.7 pts, 5.3 reb, 7.4 ast)
• Harper’s Emergence: The 20-year-old found another gear when the games mattered most, with six of his 12 20-point performances coming after March 1, including three during the Playoffs – where he’s shined brightest

And San Antonio didn’t just plant the seeds of its future.

It helped them grow – pairing its rising (and bonafide) stars with veteran leadership and a supporting cast that bought into the bigger picture.

• Silver Fox: De’Aaron Fox, an All-Star himself, brought experience and leadership to the backcourt, easing the burden on Castle and Harper as they grew into bigger roles
• Sixth Man Soul: Keldon Johnson, the longest-tenured Spur, embraced whatever role was needed, earning himself Kia Sixth Man of the Year through steady scoring and instant energy
• Strength In Numbers: Julian Champagnie, Devin Vassell, Luke Kornet and rookie Carter Bryant each played pivotal roles, providing shooting, defense and depth that helped turn a talented young core into a complete team

That complete team turned in one of its most complete efforts of the season in last night’s Game 7.

• Core Shines: Wemby (22), Castle (16), Fox (15) and Harper (12) combined for 65 points
• Champagnie Pops: Champagnie (20 pts, 6-10 3s) joined Klay Thompson (1x) and Steph Curry (2x) as the only players in NBA history to splash 6+ 3s in a Conference Finals Game 7
• Cast Closes: Johnson sparked San Antonio’s 31-26 4th quarter with two 3s, Kornet provided the game-changing block, then Vassell hammered home the exclamation dunk

Now, a team that entered Saturday with just one starter who had ever played in a Game 7 has made postseason history.

Weighted by Playoff playing time, the Spurs are the second-youngest team to ever reach the NBA Finals (25.06 years old), trailing only the 1976-77 Trail Blazers (25.03).

Last June, they were picking No. 2 in the Draft.

This June, they’ll play for an NBA championship.

• “What we can do is endless,” said Harper on making the Finals. “This is just the beginning of something really special.”

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4. FIRST LOOK: KNICKS VS. SPURS IN 2026 NBA FINALS

The 2026 NBA Finals are set.

This year’s ultimate matchup features that rare mix of what’s both current and classic.

The West’s No. 2 Spurs will host the East’s No. 3 Knicks, two teams that met back in the 1999 Finals — and the Emirates NBA Cup Championship six months ago.

• 27 Years Later: New York is making its first Finals appearance since that 1999 series, which San Antonio won 4-1 — the franchise’s first of five titles
• 12 Years Removed: The Spurs are back for the first time since 2014, when they defeated the Heat in five games
• Future Foretold: More recently, the Knicks met the Spurs to decide the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup on Dec. 16, with New York winning, 124-113
• Strength vs. Strength: The Knicks lead the Playoffs in both Off and DefRtg while the Spurs are top-3 in both categories (3rd Off, 2nd Def)

The Knicks, out for their third title and first since 1973, roll into these Finals on an 11-game winning streak, just the fifth team in NBA history with a streak that long in the Playoffs. Their only two losses have come by 1 point each.

• Accomplished Company: They join the 2017 Warriors, those ‘99 Spurs, the 2001 Lakers — all crowned champions — and the 1989 Lakers
• Up Big: The Knicks’ +262 over their last 11 games is the highest point differential over any 11-game span in NBA history, regular-season and Playoffs
• All Business: New York owns a +39.3 average win margin and 3-0 record in series-clinching games this postseason, with wins of 51 pts vs. Atlanta, 30 vs. the Sixers and 37 vs. the Cavs

With Wemby driving their run as the youngest leading scorer on a Finals-bound team in 69 years, the growing Spurs have covered their lack of experience with an ability to learn and apply on the fly in these Playoffs.

• Surging Defense: The Spurs are the first team to total over 150 steals and 130 blocks in three rounds before the Finals since the 1974 Playoffs, the first postseason where these stats were tracked
• Finals Familiar: Harrison Barnes and Mikal Bridges are the only players in this series who have reached this stage before; Barnes with the Warriors (1-1, 2015 & 16) and Bridges with the 2021 Suns (0-1)

“Winning the Larry O’Brien, it’s a childhood dream,” Wemby said postgame. “It’s almost like the meaning of my life.”

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5. WEST FINALS FRAMES: SNAPSHOTS OF AN EPIC SERIES

NBA Finals week is here.

But before we dive into more stories, let’s relive a thrilling West Finals through a few of our favorite frames – from a legendary Game 1 to the Spurs’ electric series-clinching win on Saturday.