Spurs' Victor Wembanyama returns to end Thunder's win streak

Victor Wembanyama made his return to the San Antonio Spurs lineup on Saturday night, and he helped make one thing abundantly clear — you'd better start taking that team seriously as a Western Conference contender. If you were not already.

Victor Wembanyama's return helps Spurs knock off Oklahoma City Thunder

The Spurs were 111-109 winners over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinals, advancing to Monday's championship game where they will face the New York Knicks. 

While winning the championship would be a big deal for both teams — especially financially — the Spurs may have already delivered their signature win by knocking off the Thunder on Saturday.

Oklahoma entered the game with a 24-1 record, had won 16 games in a row and was looking like a team that was inevitably going to win every night, no matter what team lined up across from them.

After jumping out to a 31-20 lead in the first quarter on Saturday, that looked to be the case again. 

That is, until Wembanyama showed up.

While he only played 21 minutes on Saturday off the bench, there is no denying the impact he made on the outcome. 

His 22 points (with 15 in the fourth quarter) were tied for second-most on the team, just one point behind Devin Vassell, while he also collected nine rebounds, dished out two assists and blocked two shots. That included this emphatic block in the fourth quarter.