Wembanyama’s return lifts Spurs to NBA Cup final, hands Thunder second loss

LAS VEGAS — Here’s how much the NBA Cup semifinals against Oklahoma City meant to San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama: He grabbed the ball after a missed Thunder shot in the final moments, squeezed it 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 championship game against the New York Knicks, after knocking off the defending NBA champion Thunder 111-109 on Saturday night in the tournament semifinals — just the second loss for OKC 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 win came in Wembanyama’s return from a 12-game absence caused by a left calf strain. He finished with 22 points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes — 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 someone can win Sixth Man and MVP in the same season, with a big smile across his face.

“As soon as Vic came in, he had the impact that we needed,” the Spurs’ 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.

A fallaway 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, and 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 four for six 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 7-foot-4 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 are on pace to smash that record this season.

But those minutes set a new tone and gave the Spurs a chance. Now, they’ll be back in Las Vegas on Tuesday with a chance at winning the NBA Cup. And Thunder coach Mark Daigneault summed up Wembanyama’s impact with one word: “Huge,” he said.

“Credit to him and them,” Daigneault said. “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.”

Spurs: Play the Knicks on Tuesday night in the NBA Cup final.

Thunder: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.