After an intense series that extended for game 7, the San Antonio Spurs came out on top in the Western Conference finals. They defeated the defending NBA Champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Now, they will meet the Eastern Conference Champions, the New York Knicks, in the NBA finals. They will also be hoping to win their first title since 2014.
Spurs entered the series as underdogs, but that didn’t deter them from performing at the highest level. The performances of their young core led by Victor Webmabyama allowed them to edge past the defending champions. The Thunder were the favorites to win the finals, but both teams had their chances at different stages of the series.
Entering game 7, the Western Conference finals were tied 3-3. It shows how these teams fought for a little bit of an advantage.
Coming to the seventh game, the young Spurs held off the defending champions 111-103. Wembanyama was awarded the Earvin “Magic” Johnson Trophy as the Western Conference Finals MVP.
Wembanyama was the top scorer in the league, recording 191 points, 76 rebounds, 22 assists, and 19 blocks across the seven games while averaging 27.3 points per game. He scored 41 points in game 1 before continuing his form in the subsequent games with 21, 26, and 33 points respectively in games 2, 3, and 4. The 20-point game five was his lowest score in the series. After that, he responded with 28 and 22 points in games 6 and 7, respectively.
From the Thunder’s side, two-time reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored the most points in the series with 181 points, 62 assists, 20 rebounds, and 13 steals while averaging 25.9 points per game. If we look at game-wise points, he scored 24, 30, 26, 19, 32, 15, and 35 points.
This year, we will see a new NBA champion for the 8th consecutive season. Both finalists, the Knicks and Spurs, are looking to win their first trophy after a long time. Spurs won the title in 2014, but the New York Knicks have been waiting for a long time to lift the trophy again. The last time they won was in 1973.
The NBA final of this year will feature the two teams that played in the 1999 final. In that edition, the Spurs won the NBA championship by defeating the New York Knicks.
