There was the Shaolin robe that the San Antonio star wore to his home arena on Thursday night, reminiscent to what he donned at times last summer at a Chinese temple he visited while seeking physical, mental and spiritual growth. There was the freshly cropped hair, another sign that he was all business.
“I’d seen a picture pregame,” Spurs guard Devin Vassell told NBA TV afterward. “I knew he was locked in from there, for sure.”
Sure enough, on the court, Wembanyama was back to his dominant self as well.
Facing an elimination game for the first time in his career, Wembanyama — who had a fiery pregame address for teammates, something he doesn’t typically do — seemed as comfortable as could be. He had 28 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two assists, on 10-for-21 shooting in 28 minutes, leading the Spurs past the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-91 to tie the Western Conference finals at 3-3.
“I think we were consistent,” Wembanyama said. “And we did what we needed to do.”
Game 7 is Saturday night in Oklahoma City, the place where Wembanyama started this West title series with a 41-point, 24-rebound masterpiece that carried the Spurs to a double-overtime win. If he gets another win on Saturday, he and the Spurs will be heading to the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks.
From the outset, Wembanyama’s imprint was on Game 6. After winning the opening tip-off, his next three plays went like this — made 3-pointer, blocked shot, another made 3-pointer. The tone was set, and the Spurs never trailed.
It was a very different approach from Game 5, when Wembanyama had 20 points on just 4-for-15 shooting.
“I would say his overall activity,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said, when asked to describe the biggest differences between Games 5 and 6 for his biggest and best player. “That, probably from my perspective, was just from his will and intent on leaving his imprints on the game.”
Wembanyama got most of the fourth quarter off, with the game having long been decided. Game 6 wasn’t over, but it’s a safe bet that he was already thinking about Game 7. Harrison Barnes, the team’s third-oldest player, was in Wembanyama’s ear during the fourth quarter on the Spurs’ bench, offering some wisdom.
He spoke. Wembanyama nodded. Whatever the message was, it was clear.
“Listening to the experienced people, whether it’s on our team, on our staff or outside,” Wembanyama said when asked what’s the first thing he thinks of when preparing for a Game 7.
The robe that he wore to Thursday’s game, he said in French during his postgame news conference, wasn’t an homage to his time at the Shaolin temple — but rather to celebrate Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday. And during that same French portion of his remarks, he was asked if he can take a moment to even contemplate how far the Spurs have come.
“I have absolutely no desire to do that right now,” he said.
The formula for this series held true again Thursday. When Wembanyama is the most dominant player, the Spurs have won. When he isn’t, they’ve lost. Good hasn’t been good enough — in the three Spurs losses, he’s averaged 22.3 points on 43% shooting. In the three Spurs wins, he’s averaged 34 points on 51% shooting.
“He’s not always perfect and we’ve got to help him at times, obviously,” Johnson said. “He’s 22 years old, but his passion and desire for being right where he is and at the forefront of it all and to take the responsibility and the role and the burden of what he does … I don’t know what else to say. He is comfortable with that regardless of the outcome and what that may look like.”
