San Antonio Spurs knock off the defending champs, will play the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals

By Jacob Lev, CNN

(CNN) — The San Antonio Spurs went into Oklahoma City and knocked off the defending champs on their home court in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday.

They’ll play the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, which begin on Wednesday, a rematch of the 1999 Finals – the last time the Knicks had a chance to win the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

The Spurs outlasted the reigning champions, Oklahoma City Thunder 111-103 in a tense deciding game.

“Back in October, we knew we had a chance to be pretty good,” said head coach Mitch Johnson after the game to the NBC broadcast. He praised his team for “giving themselves to each other, to the program, and everything that we’ve done. Oklahoma City’s a helluva organization, and what a series.”

He alluded to the youth of his team, in their first playoff run since 2019, when he said it wasn’t experience that got them to the Finals.

“There’s been a lot being talked about, just words like competitiveness, resolve, togetherness, execution. … I don’t give a damn about the word experience,” he said.

Led by Victor Wembanyama, who finished with 22 points and seven rebounds, the Spurs clinched a spot in the Finals for the first time since 2014.

It was the kind of dramatic Game 7 that a classic series deserved – one that saw both teams eke out close wins and run away with blowouts as the Spurs and Thunder established their matchup as the premier rivalry in the NBA right now. The physical, rollicking deciding game in OKC on Saturday showed that it might be the rivalry to watch in the league for years to come.

The Spurs came out of the gates hot, quickly taking a 14-point lead, leaving the raucous Continental Coliseum crowd stunned.

But the Thunder stormed back to briefly take the lead just before halftime behind reigning two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous Alexander’s 13 points in the second quarter.

However, OKC’s momentum did not last as San Antonio surged right back to a double-digit lead behind a 16-2 run in the third quarter led by Justin Champagnie’s five three-pointers.

Like all game long, the Thunder could never be counted out.

SGA clawed the team back into the game, only trailing by three points entering the final quarter.

But San Antonio had an answer for every Thunder response down the stretch, securing the victory.

It has been quite the turnaround for the Spurs, a team that drafted Wembanyama first overall in 2023 and finished 13th in the Western Conference last season.

The 22-year-old Wembanyama was emotional, bursting into tears as the final horn blew and again choking back emotions after being named the Most Valuable Player of the WCF.

The French center said the emotions came from “realizing some part” of his childhood dreams will come true.

“Even though we still have one more, this feeling is – I can’t explain it,” Wembanyama told the NBC broadcast while holding the Earvin “Magic” Johnson Trophy. “It’s so powerful.”

The Spurs will host the Knicks on Wednesday at Frost Bank Center and Wemby had one message for the fans.

“We want four more, we are not done. Go Spurs, go,” Wembanyama yelled.

The Thunder’s attempt at becoming the first NBA team to successfully defend their title for the first time since the Golden State Warriors did so in 2017 and 2018 came up short.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with a game-high 35 points and nine assists but wasn’t enough to carry a Thunder team that limped to the finish line, dealing with fatigue and a slew of injuries.

“They were just the better team tonight from start to finish,” Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters after the game. “And then every time we tried to cut into it and take control of the game, it felt like they had an answer.

“And a lot of the time, it felt like tough shot making. So, hats off to them. They played better tonight and they deserved to win again.”

The Finals will make a bit of history: The Knicks’ Mike Brown and Spurs’ Johnson will become the fourth pair of Black head coaches to face off in the Finals – the first time since 2024 when Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla and then-Mavericks coach Jason Kidd went to head-to-head.

The story has been updated with more information.

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