Winners, losers from NBA playoffs: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs force Game 7

Devin Vassell, San Antonio Spurs

Vassell is not the most exciting member of the San Antonio Spurs He's a "three-and-D" specialist, picked at No. 11 instead of the top of the lottery like many of his teammates who takes on thankless defensive assignments without racking up numbers.

In Thursday's Game 6, Vassell showed why the Spurs locked him up to a long-term deal. He had only 12 points, but that came on 4-for-7 three-point shooting. Vassell added a steal and two blocks, one on Chet Holmgren that led to an uncharacteristically emphatic celebration from the sixth-year forward.

The Spurs are going to succeed in Game 7 in large part due to their interior defense and three-point shooting. Vassell is crucial in both areas.

Dylan Harper/Stephon Castle, San Antonio
Spurs

It's hard not to think about the Spurs' pair of young guards as a unit. Castle was the No. 4 pick in 2024 and Harper was the No. 2 pick in 2025. Both have been thrown into the fire in their first postseason against a Thunder team that's very tough on opposing guards.

In Game 6, Harper scored big early, putting up 12 first-half points on 5-for-6 shooting, including 2-for-3 behind the arc. Castle scored 17 points and shot 5-for-10, getting to the foul line for eight free throws, delivering nine assists and committing only one turnover. That last statistic was a marked change — Castle had 20 turnovers in the first two games of the series and only six in the next four, while making quicker decisions with the ball.

New York Knicks

The New York Knicks have won 11 straight playoff games, which has earned their team a lot of rest. They're now guaranteed to play a Western Conference champion who has three days rest between Game 7 on May 30 and Game 1 of the Finals June 3, while they will have sat for eight full days.

Losers

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

The two-time MVP wasn't able to get going in Game 6. He shot 6-for-18 while getting the brunt of San Antonio's defensive attention, but only had four assists even against a defense keying on him. It didn't help that Gilgeous-Alexander went 0-for-5 from three-point range and couldn't force Wemby to leave the paint.

Gilgeous-Alexander's reputation as a "foul merchant" is wildly overblown, but a night where he only took three free throws and also only scored 15 points will give fuel to his haters. Worst, he simply felt invisible in a game where he could have punched his ticket to his second straight NBA Finals.

Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder

Williams deserves a ton of credit for fighting back from a hamstring injury for the second time in these playoffs. He didn't help his team by rushing back in Game 6.

As much as the Thunder need a secondary scorer behind SGA, Williams hurt them in Game 6. He had more turnovers (two) than points (one) and had a plus/minus of -18 in his 10 minutes. He was huge in the 2025 Finals, but his team's best chance to return to the Finals might be by sitting him for Game 7.

Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder's young big man has a tough matchup with San Antonio, but he's not performing like a max player in the Western Conference Finals. He scored 10 points in 24 minutes of Game 6 and grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked two shots.

Still, Holmgren's most memorable moments were being blocked by Vassell, being blocked by Wembanyama and drawing a foul on a truly stunning flop in a series full of diving from the OKC big man.

In Game 7, Holmgren is going to need to challenge Wembanyama and simply play bigger. While his flops have been rewarded with whistles most of the time, he can't rely on the referees and the Thunder's free-throw magic to make it back to the Finals.