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05/20 23:46 CDT Wembanyama disappointed after Spurs fall to Thunder, despite
another brilliant stat line
Wembanyama disappointed after Spurs fall to Thunder, despite another brilliant
stat line
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) --- Victor Wembanyama fouled Jalen Williams on a shot
attempt in the opening minutes of Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on
Wednesday night.
Except, no, he really didn't.
Yes, Wembanyama made contact with Williams. Yes, it looked like a foul. Yes, it
was called that way --- at first. Upon review, it was determined that Thunder
center Isaiah Hartenstein actually shoved Wembanyama into his teammate and
caused the foul himself.
That's how physical the Thunder were with Wembanyama in Game 2. They grabbed,
pushed, nudged, anything and everything they could muster against the 7-foot-4
French star who still finished with 21 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and
four blocked shots.
But the Thunder won 122-113, tying the series at a game apiece.
"It's all in the scouting," Wembanyama said. "I have to trust the scouting. We
have to trust it and do our work early. It's straight effort. ... Doesn't mean
it's easy. We have to work through it."
He knew what was coming, and so did the Thunder. Oklahoma City coach Mark
Daigneault told Hartenstein on Tuesday that he would have a bigger role in Game
2.
"I'm just kind of one of those players that brings physicality to the game,"
said Hartenstein, who got only 12 minutes in Game 1 and then assumed a key role
in Game 2 --- with 10 points and 13 rebounds. "I think that's just kind of what
we needed."
Stopping Wembanyama isn't going to happen. He's too good. The Thunder playbook
in Game 2 --- and going forward --- will be about making life as difficult as
possible for him, hoping to prevent outbursts like the 41-point, 24-rebound gem
that Wembanyama put together in San Antonio's Game 1 win.
"Every good player, they have to feel the defense," Thunder guard Shai
Gilgeous-Alexander said. "It's tough. He's very different to scout. You've got
to try to mix things up, you've got try different things. And that's just what
we did. Coach tried something in the first game, didn't like it, tried
something else. That's what it's about."
Wembanyama's debut in the conference finals is off to an elite start. He has
got 62 points and 41 rebounds through the first two games; the last player with
60 points and 40 rebounds in the first two games of the conference finals was
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1974 --- with 69 points and 40 rebounds for Milwaukee
against Chicago.
But the MVP finalist and Defensive Player of the Year wasn't in the mood to
hear stats. He wanted a 2-0 lead, and settling for a 1-1 tie going home for
Game 3 wasn't cause for celebration. The Spurs rallied from 13 down in the
fourth to make it interesting, but couldn't finish the comeback.
He was asked what the toughest part of Game 2 was.
"I would say it's spending so much energy on catching back up ... then letting
it go away," Wembanyama said.
That, to him, was the biggest hit of all.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
