OKLAHOMA CITY — Victor Wembanyama resisted the urge to dive deeply into the visual of watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander accept an award he thought belonged to him just minutes before the biggest game of his NBA career.

So, on the night Gilgeous-Alexander received his second Most Valuable Player award, Wembanyama snatched a consolation prize by way of a 122-115 double-overtime triumph Monday over the Oklahoma City Thunder that gave the San Antonio Spurs a 1-0 edge in the Western Conference finals.

Wembanyama racked up 41 points and 24 rebounds, becoming the youngest player in NBA history (22 years, 134 days) to record at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game.

Was he trying to send a message?

“The message would be that we as a team are ready to go into any environment, any place against anybody,” Wembanyama said. “Even though we’ve still got a lot to learn, our effort should be over everybody else’s. Tonight, we were relentless.”

The music blaring from the visitors locker room at Paycom Center set the tone, as NBA Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson thumped Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” on a gigantic Bluetooth speaker. After the victory, Spurs CEO R.C. Buford walked past a drained and barefooted Wembanyama, telling the Frenchman, “Unbelievable, man!”

San Antonio trailed by three points with 27 seconds remaining in the first overtime period when Stephon Castle flipped a pass back to Wembanyama. Just past half court, next to the OKC logo on the floor, Wembanyama planted his feet confidently and rose to bury a 28-footer that knotted the score at 108-108.

“I knew that was going in,” Castle said.

The bucket sent the game to double overtime.

“His level of physicality and execution through physicality was tremendous,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “His rebounding obviously showed in the box score, but what was off the charts was defensively, he was in his stance almost all night. That’s 49 big minutes, and it was high level for the majority of those.”

Especially in the second overtime period, when Wembanyama outscored OKC 9-7, going 3-of-3 from the floor with four rebounds and a block. With 61 seconds left, Wembanyama got an and-1 dunk off an assist from rookie Dylan Harper to push the Spurs ahead 117-114. Wembanyama drilled the subsequent free throw to push San Antonio’s advantage to four points.

Then, with 22 seconds left, Wembanyama jammed home a lob from Castle.

“He’s competitive. To see the other competitor [with] the trophy he deserves voted the winner, if you’re a competitor and you see another competitor get rewarded with what you want, that’s motivation. We all get motivated by different things and I don’t want to speak for him. But as a competitive person, that would be my approach and perspective.”

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson on Victor Wembanyama

Wembanyama concluded the night by blocking and grabbing Jalen Williams’ shot simultaneously.

Wembanyama became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1960 to log at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in his conference finals debut, and the second Spurs player after David Robinson in 1996 to produce a 40-20 line in the playoffs.

Having finished No. 3 in MVP voting for 2026, Wembanyama was asked if his Game 1 performance was a natural response to watching a competitor receive something he wanted — the Michael Jordan Trophy — which he campaigned for throughout the regular season.

Wembanyama was also asked whether any part of the night felt personal.

“Yeah, for sure,” Wembanyama said, “everything you just said.”

Johnson, meanwhile, said “100%” when asked whether Wembanyama drew motivation from watching Gilgeous-Alexander receive the MVP trophy.

“He’s competitive,” Johnson said. “To see the other competitor [with] the trophy he deserves voted the winner, if you’re a competitor and you see another competitor get rewarded with what you want, that’s motivation. We all get motivated by different things, and I don’t want to speak for him. But as a competitive person, that would be my approach and perspective.”

Harper, who moved into the starting lineup as a replacement for injured veteran De’Aaron Fox, contributed 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals in his first career postseason start. The 20-year-old logged the second-most steals in a playoff game by a rookie since steals became official (1973-74), just behind Maurice Cheeks, who tallied eight steals in 1979.

Wembanyama, meanwhile, welcomes the challenge of Game 2 on Wednesday after improving San Antonio’s record against OKC this season to 5-1. The Spurs are the fifth team in NBA history to win five of their first six games against the team that owned the best record in the NBA that season. The previous four all won a playoff series against the team that had the best record.

Game 1 tacked on more seasoning for a team lacking in playoff experience.

“A game like tonight is the best way to get experience,” Wembanyama said. “We played five quarters. So, we’re learning, and by the time we get the experience, we’ll compensate with our effort. We want to win everything, and we have the chance [because we] have people above us in the organization that know how to do that. So far, it looks like they’ve put the right people together to give us a chance. Right now, we’ve got a chance.”

ESPN Research contributed to this report.