Former NBA All-Star Assigns Blame on Thunder's Loss to Spurs

Alex Caruso played the best playoff game of his career scoring-wise, while Jalen Williams looked like he never left as he played his first 2026 postseason game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took over in clutch time. Still, those efforts were not enough for the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.

Victor Wembanyama showed that he is ready to take over. Fresh off losing the MVP race to SGA, the French superstar exploded for 41 points and grabbed 24 rebounds to lead his team to a Game 1 victory. He hit clutch shots in the double-overtime win and blocked key shots to seal the victory.

It was a close game despite Wemby's gigantic performance. The Thunder had a chance to win if only Chet Holmgren had shown up.

Former NBA All-Star turned analyst DeMarcus Cousins believed Holmgren could have been the game changer for the Thunder. Holmgren played 41 minutes in the loss, but Cousins still thought he was ineffective.

According to Cousins, the main issue was Holmgren not stepping up to guard Wembanyama.

"You have to step up and accept that challenge," Cousins said on the Run It Back podcast.

"That's his matchup. There's no reason to have your 6'3" and 6'4" guards defending him every possession at the free-throw line extended. You have to step up and accept that challenge. I think that's what changes the series for OKC moving forward. If not, this could get really ugly if that's the game plan every night in terms of how they want to guard Wemby. Wemby is the focal point of their offense. Wemby is the X-factor."

Caruso, who gives up nearly a foot in height against Wemby, had the difficult task of guarding the Spurs star. They were matched up during the final possession of the fourth quarter, but Wemby easily got past his defense and hit a four-foot turnaround jumper. SGA answered with a layup to force the first overtime.

Holmgren is 7-foot-1 and is the Thunder's best matchup against the 7-foot-4 Wemby. He also finished runner-up to Wembanyama for this year's Defensive Player of the Year award.

Related: Victor Wembanyama Shares Mindset on MVP Award Following Game 1

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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 7:54 PM.