Victor Wembanyama’s half-court buzzer beater showcased a master in complete control | Victor Wembanyama
VIctor Wembanyama claimed the ball. His San Antonio Spurs were up by nine at the end of the second quarter, but led by as many as 16 in the first half. Trailing 2-1 in the Western Conference final against the Oklahoma City Thunder, it was urgent to take the lead in the final seconds of the half. In the previous game, the Spurs exploded to a 15-0 lead, only to lose badly. In Game 4 on Sunday night, the horn was getting closer, and so were the Thunder. Wembanyama took a few dribbles, but only had time to reach half court before the clock forced him to shoot. He hoisted the ball in the air 43 feet; the bell rings. The ball hit the basket cleanly.
Buoyed by that shot and the Thunder hitting almost all of their three-point attempts as if they were in solidarity with each other, the Spurs completed a 21-point annihilation to even the series.
The buzzer-beater recalled Wembanyama’s three long hits in Game 1, which forced a second overtime with the Spurs struggling offensively and on the brink of defeat. (Another point to consider: the three-point shot isn’t even the Frenchman’s most powerful skill.) This shot came from just 32 feet, but was executed under more pressure, when other, safer options were available. If you’re not a fan of shooting from behind the arc, perhaps the moment on Sunday when Wembanyama missed a touch and then corrected it with a spinning back tap over his head was what made your heart sing. Or the nastiest of his blockages. Or one of the many times an opposing player rushed to the basket for a layup, spotted Wembanyama in the paint and kept dribbling. He starts piling magical moments on top of each other.
Through four games of this postseason matchup, it seems clear that the Thunder are the better and deeper team. San Antonio’s starters narrowly dominated Oklahoma City’s, but the Thunder bench was stronger by about five times that margin. Wembanyama’s depth of talent has been necessary to keep this series competitive.
In the first game, Wemby produced a 41-24 double-double that had many podcasters wondering if the Thunder – the defending champions, had the best record in the league! – could do anything to stop it. The Thunder’s towering German center Isaiah Hartenstein provided the response, enveloping his 7-foot-4 opponent in a buffet of bear hugs that eluded the referees’ whistles, minimizing the Frenchman’s ability to get into the paint and slam dunks or grab rebounds. Wembanyama had a smoother performance in Game 2. In Game 3, his voice in the paint – only four rebounds! – felt calm to the point of silence, given that he is capable of making more noise there than anyone who has ever lived.
At this point, Spurs’ stunning Game 1 triumph looked like a Pyrrhic victory. Their starters played so many minutes. The Thunder felt like they had an endless supply of linebackers who could jump off the pine and score 18 points without breaking a sweat, and with several of them in Game 3, they brutalized San Antonio’s reserves while giving the stars a rest. It was hard to imagine how this problem wouldn’t get worse with the rest of the series.
But Wembanyama scored 33 of Spurs’ 103 points in Game 4, complementing it with his usual defensive impact, and perhaps even more encouraging was that he played just 31 minutes. With the Spurs enjoying a healthy lead late in the fourth quarter, he got a head start on his recovery on a stationary bike in the tunnel.
Spurs have a path to victory here, but it remains tenuous: get Herculean performances from Wembanyama, and just enough from everyone else. The Spurs’ crucial offensive creators, De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper, are compromised, Devin Vassell and Stephon Castle are excellent on both ends of the floor but aren’t taking control of games (not to mention Castle’s many turnovers in this series). Wembanyama knows the business. It was there, in this ridiculous 32 feet, to save the first game. He knew his teammates’ ability to generate offense was dying a quick death. As absurd as it sounds, he made that long three-pointer with 19 seconds left on the shot clock. need.
More than anything, you can see how vital Wembanyama is to his team when he has to rest and his replacement, Luke Kornet, comes in. Kornet is a very good player; he could start with the Lakers. But in this series, at this level, it borders on the unusable. He was cremated as soon as he arrived on the ground. This raises the question of whether Spurs could somehow play Wembanyama for the full 48 minutes, at a limited intensity. Kornet’s stat line over his 13 minutes of play Sunday sparkles: six points on three of four shots, seven rebounds, two blocks. The Thunder still outscored the Spurs by nine points during that span. The Spurs gained Wembanyama’s minutes by twenty-nine.
The Spurs are engaged enough in this series to believe that Wembanyama’s wizardry will be enough to win it. You feel bad for those who have already set up anti-Wembanyama campsites. The Spurs are young and dealing with enough injuries — and the Thunder are a special enough team — that Wembanyama is the underdog. His triumphs may still seem improbable and are worth cherishing as long as that remains true. One day he and the Spurs will be so good that we’ll laugh at the memory, or maybe cry for it.
