From The Sports Desk: Wembanyama leads Spurs to victory with all-time performance

NBAFrom The Sports Desk: Wembanyama leads Spurs to victory with all-time performance And that was only Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Plus, Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior is the subject of today’s World Cup spotlight.Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs dunks the ball against Chet Holmgren #7 and Jalen Williams #8 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter in Game One of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center on May 18, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Joshua Gateley / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 19, 2026, 3:00 PM EDTBy Rohan Nadkarni and Tim RohanWow! What else is there to say? Victor Wembanyama put on an otherworldly performance last night to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a double-overtime win over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. We might see six more games of this? How lucky are we?Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Also, Neymar made Brazil’s World Cup roster. But he’s not our World Cup player spotlight from Brazil. That’d be the dynamic left winger Vinícius Júnior.We’ll have more NBA and World Cup coverage coming in the newsletter and, as always, on the NBC News website. NBA PlayoffsThere are somehow both too many and not enough words to describe last night’s double-overtime clash between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. Epic. Incredible. Unbelievable. Those words start to but still can’t fully describe the Spurs’ 122-115 win in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.The opening round of this much-anticipated heavyweight fight had everything: clutch shotmaking, intense defensive effort and stars making big plays. San Antonio ultimately secured the game thanks to a sublime performance by Wembanyama, who scored 41 points and collected 24 rebounds in a whopping 49 minutes.Wemby hit a 3-pointer from near the midcourt logo to send the game to double ove...