Spurs win at Thunder in Conference finals opener

Spurs win at Thunder in Conference finals openerImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Victor Wembanyama was third in the voting for this season's MVP - behind Nikola Jokic and winner Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderByBen CollinsBBC Sport journalistPublished3 minutes agoCommentsVictor Wembanyama delivered a 40-20 performance as the San Antonio Spurs opened the NBA's Conference finals with a double-overtime win at the defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.The match-up between the first and second seed in the Western Conference features Wembanyama, this season's defensive player of the year, go up against Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has been named the NBA's Most Valuable Player for a second straight year.And the best-of-seven series got off to a thrilling start on Monday as San Antonio had the chance to win it at the end of regulation time, and then Oklahoma City in overtime, before the Spurs prevailed 122-115.Wembanyama's alley-oop dunk with 22 seconds left in the second period of overtime put the Spurs up by six and meant the France forward finished with 41 points and 24 rebounds.At 22 years and 134 days old, he is the youngest player in NBA history to reach 40 points and 20 rebounds in a play-off game, and joins Wilt Chamberlain (1960) as the only players to do so on their Conference finals debut."He has a rare desire to step into every moment that's in front of him," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of the 2023 first overall draft pick."I think he has showed in his three years in a lot of different situations with a lot of different circumstances that he's going to attack those moments. He has some rare God-given ability."San Antonio's rookie guard Dylan Harper claimed 24 points and 11 rebounds as Thunder suffered their first loss of the play-offs having swept the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers in the previous two rounds.Alex Caruso led the top seeds with 31 points off the bench, whil...