VICTOR Wembanyama powers the San Antonio Spurs to a 103-82 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder to level their NBA Western Conference semifinal series at two games apiece.
Photo courtesy of Agence France-Presse
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JESSE D. GARRABRANT
HOUSTON (AFP) — Victor Wembanyama scored 33 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs in a 103-82 rout of Oklahoma City on Sunday and level the National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference finals at two games each.
The 22-year-old French 7-foot-4 (2.24m) center shot 11-of-22 from the floor, 3-of-7 from three-point range, and added eight rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and two steals in 31 minutes for the Spurs.
"I need to find ways to impact the game in many areas," said Wembanyama. "I have a lot of responsibilities but I'm here for it. All of us, we're going to have to do things we didn't sign up for."
Host San Antonio pulled level 2-2 in the best-of-seven playoff series with game five on Tuesday in Oklahoma City and game six back in San Antonio on Thursday.
"This was our first deficit in the playoff series. We just responded," Wembanyama said. "It was nothing amazing. It wasn't magic. We just did what we needed to do. The series is far from over."
Wembanyama knows what the Spurs must do to win the NBA title.
"We've got six more wins before we can rest," he said.
The Spurs seek their first trip to the NBA Finals since winning the crown in 2014 while the Thunder hope to become the NBA's first back-to-back champions since Golden State in 2017-2018.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Wembanyama was aggressive to try and keep San Antonio from falling into a 3-1 series hole.
"Our competitive response all year has been pretty good and he has been at the forefront of that," Johnson said.
"Tonight he felt an obligation to set a tone for us in a variety of ways. The aggressiveness was a reflection of that... I think he wants that responsibility. He's built for it."
The Thunder had been unbeaten on the road in this year's playoffs but were foiled in a bid to reach 6-0 by a strong Spurs defensive effort.
"Any time we can turn defense into offense, turnovers and rebounding, that's when we're at our best," Johnson said.
"We can get out and run and play and get out in pace. Our activity was great tonight and we're going to need to get better at it as the series moves on."
