Victor Wembanyama returned from a 12-game absence with 22 points and nine rebounds, giving San Antonio a surge and the Oklahoma City Thunder just its second loss with a 111-109 victory Saturday night to put the Spurs in the NBA Cup final.
The Spurs play the New York Knicks in Tuesday night's final.
Oklahoma's last defeat was Nov. 5 at Portland, and the Thunder carried a 16-game winning streak into this game. They now are 24-2, the second-best start behind only the 25-1 record by Golden State in 2015-16.
This is the Thunder's second loss in a row in Las Vegas. They also lost last year’s final to Milwaukee 97-81.
Wembanyama, who received “M-V-P” chants from the pro-Spurs crowd, had a plus-21 rating in 21 minutes. Teammate Devin Vassell scored 23 points and De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle each scored 22.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 29 points, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams each totaled 17.
Red-hot Brunson propels Knicks
Jalen Brunson scored at least 30 points for the fourth consecutive game, his season-high 40 leading the Knicks past the Orlando Magic 132-120 to move New York into the NBA Cup final.
The Knicks, who have won five in a row and nine of 10, will play San Antonio on Tuesday night for the championship.
Brunson also had eight assists and made 16 of 27 shots, including a 3-pointer in the third quarter after Orlando's Anthony Black fell backward onto the floor. Karl-Anthony Towns had 29 points and OG Anunoby scored 24 for the Knicks.
Jalen Suggs scored 25 of his 26 points in the first half for the Magic before leaving in the fourth quarter because of a sore left hip. Paolo Banchero added 25 points and Desmond Bane scored 18.
This game had a playoff feel with both teams playing physically and taking seemingly every opportunity to push the pace. The Knicks shot 60.7% and outscored the Magic 70-62 in the lane.
The game was back and forth with 11 lead changes and 10 ties before the Knicks went on a 10-point run late in the third quarter to take a 102-92 lead.
