Wemby Watch: Victor, Spurs Erupt vs. OKC Thunder, Notch New Biggest Win of Season

Story of the Game

We have a new best game of the year.

The Oklahoma City Thunder came in .5 games back of first place in the West and riding a 5 game win streak. And they played well against the Spurs, but they ran into the Spurs at the exact worst time.

The Spurs went 19–39 from three, limited their mistakes, had numerous big moments down the stretch and, in general, played good basketball.

Towards the end, the continual daggers from the Spurs seemed like a release and therapy session (especially for Victor) from all of the losses they have endured. And the San Antonio absolutely crowd loved it, rewarding the team with frenzied cheering and celebration.

Just from his facial expressions, you can tell Victor hates, hates, hates losing.

But there’s an asterisk to this win: if the Spurs played this well against a legitimate championship contender who also played well, how do you explain them being a top three worst team in the NBA?

Victor Stats

28 points, 7 assists, 13 rebounds, 5 blocks in 32 minutes

9–17 fgs, 5–7 3 fgs

Quick Thoughts

I had a lot of thoughts throughout the course of the game. Let’s go through as many as I can think of.

• The Spurs hot shooting won this game, but the Spurs were/are still good enough to compete when they play solid
• Had Pop not tanked, this is a playoff team
• For people that say the Spurs don’t have talent, you can’t beat the OKC Thunder on a good night without it
• I like Jeremy Sochan’s black “AIR” shoes
• Jeremy Sochan was very competitive in this game, he really wanted to go after it
• Even though Chet plays a vital role on a far superior team, I think Victor’s edge in the head-to-head matchups earns him Rookie of the Year
• Jalen Williams is very, very good
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is great, so great he might be better than Luka Doncic. The Spurs could not stop him.
• OKC’s shooting is freakishly consistent
• I think Victor bit on literally every one of Chet Holmgren’s pump fakes from three
• The Thunder swarmed Victor and were only called once for defensive three seconds but I think they actually were guilty of more
• Spurs went through a way too long dry spell of not getting Victor the ball to start the fourth
• Pop held Victor out for too long in the third which enabled the Thunder to go from down 12 to up; the best players have to play bigger minutes in big games
• Zach Collins had a solid game and seemed to play without thinking too much. It was his best game in a long time.
• Gordon Hayward may be stronger but he looks way too chunky.

Pre-game Setup

The Oklahoma City-San Antonio matchup is game #60 for the Spurs.

Betting: Thunder -11, Over/Under 238.5

(Guess-Prediction: I’ll take the Spurs and the over.)

Betting Record going into the game 41–46–1.

The Thunder traveled to San Antonio for this contest.