Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday pits arguably the two best players in the world against each other: Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and San Antonio Spurs‘ Victor Wembanyama.
The heavyweight clash also marks just the second time in NBA history when the reigning MVP and Defensive Player of the Year face off in a Game 7. The only other such instance saw Denver Nuggets‘ Nikola Jokic face the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert in Game 7 of the West semifinals in 2024.
Via the NBA:
Saturday will mark just the second time in NBA history that the season’s NBA Most Valuable Player (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) will face the season’s Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year (Victor Wembanyama) in a Game 7.
The other instance was in 2024 with 2023-24 Kia NBA MVP Nikola Jokić faced 2023-24 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Minnesota and Gobert defeated Denver and Jokić 98-90 on May 19, 2024.
Can Spurs Shock Thunder?
In the last MVP vs DPOY matchup, Jokic’s Nuggets choked a 20-point second-half lead as Gobert and the T’Wolves rallied back to upset the then-reigning champions.
Could the Spurs similarly upset the current reigning champions on Saturday?
They open as 4.-5-point underdogs — understandably so, given the record of road teams in Game 7s. Home teams have won 73% of the 163 Game 7s in NBA playoff history (119-44), while the Spurs are 1-5 in Game 7s on the road.
Meanwhile, the Thunder are 8-5 all-time in Game 7s, including 8-1 at home. Notably, SGA and Co. won two Game 7s en route to the NBA title last year — versus the Nuggets in the West semifinals and the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals. As such, they are more battle-tested than the Spurs, who have never played such a high-stakes game.
Stephon Castle: ‘We All Want This’
While the odds are stacked heavily against them, the Spurs believe they have the edge going into Game 7 following their 118-91 win in Game 6. So much so that Stephon Castle is convinced the Spurs are “the better team” than the reigning champions.
“As a group, we all want this,” Castle said, via The Oklahoman.
“It’s right there in front of us. We feel like collectively that we’re better than this team and we didn’t want to let our fans down on our home court either.
“So coming out here with a chance to go back to OKC and play a Game 7 I feel like is all the motivation we need.”
Thunder vs Spurs Game 7 tips off at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Even without Jalen Williams (hamstring) and Ajay Mitchell (calf), the Thunder are favorites to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals.
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