Victor Wembanyama faces a heavyweight clash as the underdog Spurs enter a bitter rivalry against the Thunder, promising a high-stakes battle for Western Conference supremacy.
It was the calm before the storm.
Victor Wembanyama, in reflected on reaching the Western Conference finals for the first time after the San Antonio Spurs' Game 6 win on Friday, talked of how "crazy'' and "special'' the advancement is.
The Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 139-109 at Target Center to close out the Western Conference semifinal series 4-2. The win sent San Antonio to the conference finals for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
Wembanyama said the moment carried weight.
"Just the words 'conference finals' is crazy. It's like something I heard my whole life and now being in it is just special," Wembanyama said.
Calm. Thoughtful. Peaceful.
But that's about to end.
This conference finals - the first in the three-year career of the 22-year-old Wembanyama - is being predicted to be a basketball war. ... a heavyweight clash.
“What a treat this series is going to be,'' writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. "These two teams do not like each other. They will tear each other limb from limb.''
As it happens, four of The Athletic’s five insiders picked the Thunder to win, with Krawczynski the only dissenter.
And the Spurs do enter Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals at OKC (7:30 p.m. Monday) as 6.5-point underdogs - even though the Spurs beat the Thunder in four of their five regular-season meetings.
This first-ever series pitting Wembanyama’s Spurs against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder might be the start of a long-lasting title-chasing feud between the two clubs. These are the NBA's two best teams, with young superstars ... and yes, the ability to "tear opponents limb from limb'' - figuratively, of course, as we don't need anymore of the elbow-throwing wrestling matches that marred the Spurs' series win over Minnesota.
Wembanyama averaged 19.8 points and 12.0 rebounds over the six games against Minnesota, a continuation of his regular-season brilliance.
But now comes next-level stuff.
"It's great. My mind is excited,'' Wembanyama said, adding that he hopes the appearance is the start of a trend. "Hopefully many more conference finals to come (in the) next years."
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