Few players in NBA history have entered the league with as much hype as Victor Wembanyama. And somehow, some way, the giant Frenchman continues to exceed even the wildest expectations. 

Late on Monday night, Wembanyama authored one of the finest playoff performances we’ve ever seen to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 122-115 double-overtime victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in an instant classic in Game 1 of the 2026 Western Conference Finals. 

This was the first double-overtime game in the Western Conference Finals since 1976, and Wembanyama finished with 41 points, 24 rebounds, three assists and three blocks on 14 of 25 from the field in 49 minutes to become the youngest player in NBA history to record a 40-point, 20-rebound game in the playoffs. 

“Just like, sheer willpower,” Wembanyama said of his performance during his walk-off interview. “Everything was going really fast tonight. I guess I was — I wasn’t really thinking.” 

Wembanyama set new playoff career-highs in scoring, rebounds and minutes, joined David Robinson as the only players in Spurs history with a 40-point, 20-rebound game in the playoffs, became the first player since Charles Barkley in 1993 to record a 40/20 game in the conference finals, and joined Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players with at least 40 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks in the conference finals or later (blocks did not become official until the 1973-74 season). 

40 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks in the conference finals or later

The Thunder had no answer for Wembanyama, who made big play after big play on both ends of the floor all night long. He had a go-ahead bucket in the closing seconds of regulation that looked like it would be the game-winner until Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored to force overtime. 

Then, in the first overtime, Wembanyama hit an absurd 27-foot 3-pointer — it seemed even further, but that’s the distance the NBA’s stats site gives — to tie the game with less than 30 seconds to play. And in the second extra frame, Wembanyama scored nine of the Spurs’ 14 points and outscored the Thunder by himself. His and-one dunk over rival Chet Holmgren was the defining play down the stretch. 

Thanks to Wembanyama’s heroics, the Spurs have grabbed a 1-0 lead and stolen home-court advantage from the reigning champions, who had not lost a single game in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Spurs are now just three wins away from their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2014, but the job is far from finished. 

“It might be a long series,” Wembanyama said. “Winning one game means something, but it doesn’t mean everything.”

With an iconic Game 1 in the books, let’s rank Wembanyama’s five best plays

5. An absurd block on J-Dub

Jalen Williams made his return to action in Game 1 after missing the Thunder’s last six games, including the entire second round against the Los Angeles Lakers, with a hamstring strain. He was a bit rusty, as expected, but finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and three assists. 

He easily could have had 28 points if not for an absurd block by Wembanyama on a putback attempt. 

4. A driving dunk to set the tone in double-OT

Everyone was gassed to start the second overtime, and the first few possessions for both teams were sloppy. Wembanyama eventually took matters into his own hands to open the scoring. He caught the ball at the top of the key, pump-faked Cason Wallace out of the way and threw down a huge one-hand jam. 

In terms of a pure highlight, this was far from Wembanyama’s best play of the night, but it was one of his most important moments. The game could have gone either way in the second overtime, and that dunk set the tone for the Spurs to go on and win. 

3. A near game-winner

The Spurs led by double digits early in the fourth quarter, but with De’Aaron Fox sidelined, they struggled to get good looks late in regulation as the Thunder’s defense tightened. Throwing the ball to Wembanyama is usually a good strategy, though, and that’s what they did with less than 30 seconds to play. 

Wembanyama caught the ball near the free-throw line, squared up, dealt with the physicality from Williams and spun his way into an extremely tough runner which rattled around and in. That bucket nearly held up as the game-winner, but Gilgeous-Alexander’s layup on the other end forced overtime. 

2. Putting Chet on a poster

Victor Wembanyama is not Chet Holmgren’s biggest fan, so it had to feel especially nice when he put the Thunder big man on a poster late in the second overtime. With just under 90 seconds to play, Williams had hit a huge 3 to cut the deficit to one, and the Paycom Center was rocking. 

Wembanyama silenced it 20 seconds later by sealing Alex Caruso, catching a great pass from Dylan Harper and throwing down a huge and-one slam on Holmgren, who tried in vain to come over and help. The three-point play put the Spurs back up by four with a minute left and effectively sealed the game. 

1. A 3 from Steph Curry range

Back in 2016, during the Golden State Warriors‘ record-setting 73-win season, Stephen Curry hit arguably the most iconic shot of his career in Oklahoma City: a 37-foot pull-up 3-pointer in overtime to beat the Thunder in a truly incredible game. The stakes were much higher on Monday, and Wembanyama was a bit closer, but his pull-up 3 late in the first overtime was eerily similar to Curry’s shot. It even came on the same side of the floor. 

After the Spurs had taken a four-point lead in the first overtime, the Thunder ripped off a 7-0 run — capped by a Gilgeous-Alexander dunk — to go ahead by three with less than a minute to play. The Spurs were truly on the ropes, but Wembanyama got them back into the fight with a ridiculous 3 to tie the game. 

If Wembanyama misses that shot, the Spurs almost certainly lose, and every talk show on Tuesday would have been asking why he didn’t go to the basket with so much time remaining. But he hit it, and the Spurs won, and now all those segments will instead be about where this performance ranks all-time, and whether he’s the best player in the world.