The one player the Oklahoma City Thunder don't want to face on their way to the NBA Finals is Victor Wembanyama. Unfortunately for Chet Holmgren and company, he appears to be heading their way.
For a brief moment in time, hope sprung anew that the Thunder would get yet another gift-wrapped opponent to mow through. After the Phoenix Suns backed into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed, the Thunder got to play a shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers team playing without Luka Doncic. Eight games, eight victories for OKC.
As they sit at home waiting for the Western Conference Finals to start, they have to be rooting for the Minnesota Timberwolves to upset the San Antonio Spurs in their second round series. While Anthony Edwards is a stone-cold killer, and the combination of Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels is a defensive superweapon, they don't have one thing: Wembanyama.
The Thunder are rooting for the Wolves
Because of that, the Timberwolves have need to scrap and claw their way to two wins in the series. The second win in Game 4 came because Wembanyama snapped and threw an elbow to Naz Reid's head and throat, leading to an ejection and a scrappy Minnesota victory.
With the series tied at two games apiece, Game 5 looked like another opportunity for the Wolves to steal a game. Wembanyama's flying elbow was being evaluated by the league office, while guards De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper were both questionable with injuries.
Alas, the NBA did not suspend Wembanyama for Game 5, and both Fox and Harper were in uniform for the contest. The Wolves gave it everything they had, even managing to tie the game midway through the third quarter.
Then the Spurs came alive, pushed the margin to 20, and that was all she wrote. Victor Wembanyama put up another incredible stat line: 27 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three blocks. And he is still only 22 years old.
The Spurs should scare the Thunder
The Spurs are now just one win away from putting away a battered Timberwolves team and advancing to the Western Conference Finals to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder have been a juggernaut during the course of the playoffs, just as they were in the regular season and all of last season. That doesn't mean they can swagger their way into a matchup with the Spurs.
For starters, the Spurs won four of five matchups in the regular season, with their cadre of perimeter defenders able to slow down the scoring punch of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Then there is the fact that the Thunder were even better last season, and yet they were pushed to seven games twice, including in the NBA Finals by the Indiana Pacers. They could find themselves in a dogfight against anyone.
The final reason for concern is that the Spurs have Victor Wembanyama, the alien-turned-Frenchman who is the league's best defender and an elite offensive option despite his young age. He is a special, special player.
How can the Thunder beat the Spurs?
Can the Thunder contain him? Can the bulk of Isaiah Hartenstein and the mobility of Chet Holmgren hold up against Wembanyama? Can Gilgeous-Alexander get his midrange shot off if Wembanyama is lurking to swat it away?
Stopping Wembanyama is only half of the battle, of course. Then you have to stop De'Aaron Fox from getting to the cup, and Dylan Harper from pushing in transition, and Stephon Castle from bashing defenders out of the way with his off-arm. That is all easier said than done.
The Thunder were rooting for the Timberwolves to advance, as they have proven they will mow through the Wolves in a potential matchup. Now it looks like that dream path, an easy, meandering road past difficult opponents, is going to be pushed back to the main road.
The Spurs are heading their way.
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