LAS VEGAS — Here’s how much the NBA Cup semifinal against the Oklahoma City Thunder meant to Victor Wembanyama: The 7-foot-4 star for the San Antonio Spurs grabbed a defensive rebound in the final moments, squeezed the ball tightly and screamed in delight.
Technically, it was just another game. It sure didn’t seem that way.
Welcome back, Victor. The Spurs are headed to the NBA Cup title game against the New York Knicks after knocking off reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City 111-109 on Saturday night in the second semifinal at T-Mobile Arena. It’s just the second loss for the Thunder in 26 games this season.
“This is not a typical regular-season game,” Wembanyama said. “We knew if that if we lose, we’re out. And you know, some people are built for these moments. Some aren’t. But we definitely are.”
The Spurs (18-7) will face the New York Knicks (18-7) in Tuesday night’s final at T-Mobile Arena. Unlike other NBA Cup games, that one won’t count toward either team’s regular-season record, nor will the statistics count toward players’ numbers for 2025-26.
The Knicks were 132-120 winners over the Orlando Magic in the earlier semifinal between Eastern Conference teams.
Wembanyama was returning from a 12-game absence caused by a left calf strain. He finished with 22 points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes — with the league’s 2024 rookie of the year coming off the bench for the first time in his NBA career.
There won’t be too many more times when he doesn’t start. Wembanyama wondered aloud after the game if a player could win sixth man of the year and MVP in the same season, doing so with a big smile across his face.
“As soon as Vic came in, he had the impact that we needed,” Spurs guard Devin Vassell said.
There were plenty of signs of emotion in the final minutes from Wembanyama, indicating that this indeed wasn’t just another game between Western Conference teams.
A fallaway attempt that turned into a falling-down shot by Wembanyama put the Spurs up by six with 9:49 left. He got fouled by Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace the next time down the floor in one of those intentional, but not flagrant, don’t give up a dunk fouls, then flexed his arms toward Wallace after the play.
The Spurs bench roared in delight — again, not the sort of scene typically associated with a regular-season contest in December.
“It is one of 82, but to your point, there are always circumstances and contexts,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “And that doesn’t mean that everybody quantifies them the same, but I do think that our guys have been excited about the Cup. I think our guys are excited to play really good teams. … When you play the Oklahoma City Thunder, you’re getting the league’s best. And we are a competitive group, and we want to continue to challenge ourselves to continue to get better. There’s no better way to do that but to play the best.”
Wembanyama scored in the lane with 2:32 left to put the Spurs up for good, then helped finish off the win by going 4-for-6 from the foul line in the final 78 seconds.
His impact on the game was immediate. Oklahoma City led 31-20 after the first quarter; Wembanyama checked in for the first time to open the second quarter, and everything quickly changed.
He got an offensive rebound and scored on his opening possession. By the end of his first minute, he had grabbed two more rebounds and had an assist to set up a 3-pointer. There was one play where he lost his dribble and then sent his towaring frame sprawling to the floor to dive on the ball, which he gathered and then passed to Julian Champagnie for another 3-pointer.
He played 7:19 of the first half. In that time, the Spurs outscored the Thunder by 20 points: 9-2 in his first stint, 15-2 in his second stint, 24-4 combined. That’s right, a 24-4 margin over a team that had a 24-1 record entering the night, outscored teams by a record average last season and is on pace to smash that record this season.
Those minutes set a new tone and gave the Spurs a chance.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault summed up Wembanyama’s impact with one word: “Huge.”
“Credit to him and them,” Daigneault added. “I thought for stretches of the game, they played really well without him, too. I didn’t think it was isolated to him. I thought that was a great team win for them. They won as a team. A lot of their guys played well, but he certainly had an impact on the game.”
Oklahoma City, which lost last year’s NBA Cup final to the Milwaukee Bucks, had won 16 games in a row this season since a 121-119 road loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 5.
“It wasn’t our sharpest night,” Daigneault said. “They’re a good team. Credit them. They played great. There’s a lot of controllable stuff from that game that wasn’t where we’d like to be.”
There’s no cause for alarm. Oklahoma City has tied the second-best 26-game start in NBA history. The Golden State Warriors began 25-1 in 2015-16; the Thunder join the 2008-09 Boston Celtics, 1969-70 Knicks and 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers at 24-2.
They shot a season-low 41% from the field, went 9-for-37 from 3-point range — their third-worst showing from deep this season — and let the Spurs turn 15 turnovers into 26 points.
And after all that, they lost by one bucket
“I think an average team would probably be like, ‘Oh, it’s the Cup, whatever, we lost one,'” Thunder guard Jalen Williams said. “What are we, 24-2? I mean, we can go home and just hang our hat on that, or we can look at it as a way to get better and understand that we played against a playoff team that beat us.”
Reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said it felt odd to lose. And what the Thunder guard said next was eye-opening.
“Personally, I think it’s exciting,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s easier to learn when you don’t feel the way you want to feel. It stings a little bit more. We’ll also see these guys a few more times in the next couple games, so it’ll be a good challenge. It’s like an automatic test, almost, in school: You fail the test, you get to retest a couple days later. That’s what it’ll probably feel like. Losing is where you find growth.”
Indeed, they do play twice in the coming weeks: Dec. 23 in San Antonio and then on Christmas in Oklahoma City.
Those were going to be big games anyway. They might be a smidge bigger now.
“Playing in bigger-moment games, games with a little bit more on the line, they definitely help sharpen a tool for later in the season when the moments matter,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “All these experiences, you definitely can grow from.”
Brunson shines for Knicks again
Knicks guard Josh Hart got asked a question Saturday night after New York reached the NBA Cup championship game about where teammate Jalen Brunson ranks as a scorer.
Hart smiled. Brunson cringed.
And then, as typically happens when those two share a postgame podium, comedy happened.
“He’s barely a 6-foot guard,” Hart began, with Brunson sitting about two feet to his left. “Not physically impressive, not athletic, but he’s able to manipulate defenses. Big head, so he has a big brain. He’s able to figure out those angles and find himself in position to be successful. So, inch for inch, I think he’s probably the best one.”
Brunson — listed at 6-2, perhaps a bit generously — tried to interject a few times during Hart’s answer, to no avail. Hart couldn’t stop talking, much in the same way that Brunson couldn’t stop scoring. He had a game- and season-high 40 points in the semifinal win over Orlando (15-11).
Hart’s point, in his own way, was clear: Brunson is playing at an elite level right now. And Knicks coach Mike Brown was more direct, walking into the postgame interview room and hammering home a specific point he’s been making in recent weeks: that Brunson, even this early in the season, belongs in the league MVP conversation.
“He makes the game easier for everybody,” Brown said. “That’s what MVPs are supposed to do, and he definitely did that tonight. … At the end of the day, he carries you home. It’s beautiful to be able to see him do what he’s more than capable of doing on a national stage like this, in an environment like this. Hopefully you guys as media and the fans out there can continue talking about him as an MVP of this league, because that’s exactly what he is.”
Brown later made this clear: He’s not campaigning. The way he sees it, he’s just offering facts. And if Brunson — now averaging 28.8 points per game — keeps playing this way, the MVP case is going to get even more compelling.
This is also clear: Brunson isn’t going to lobby for individual honors. And he has his reasons, starting with his parents, one of whom is a Knicks assistant coach.
“Sandra and Rick Brunson, first and foremost, how they raised me,” Brunson said when asked why he doesn’t outwardly seek recognition. “My family, my wife, my inner circle, everybody that I have been involved with. My inner circle keeps me humble, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
He was 16-of-27 from the field Saturday, adding eight assists to the 40 points. He and Orlando guard Jalen Suggs each had 25 points at halftime; Suggs was slowed by a nagging hip injury and had only one point in the second half. The game was tied at 90 late in the third quarter, and the Knicks went ahead for good with a 9-2 run, with Brunson scoring seven of those points and getting the assist on the other basket.
“He constantly finds a way,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “He gets you in tough positions. He knows how to use his footwork, knows how to use his leverage, knows how to get calls, stepping into shots. He plays those long minutes early on, being able to find matchup situations.
“Again, he hit some tough, timely shots. I think that’s what you have to credit him for. He’s one of those guys who continues to do that, and that’s what he’s proven to do in this league.”
Brunson was the NBA’s clutch player of the year last season, so it’s not like he’s been ignored by voters. Brown just wants him to have a different trophy.
“You see a lot of other great candidates that are well deserving, but I don’t ever hear Jalen’s name,” Brown said. “When you’re first or second in either conference, and you’re putting up the numbers that he’s putting up, his name’s got to be one of the first names coming out of somebody’s mouth.”