Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson expects the defending champion Thunder to come out swinging in tonight’s Game 7 in Oklahoma City, writes Jordan Davis of The Oklahoman (subscriber link).
“I think a lot of fans are going to be happy,” Johnson said after Thursday’s Game 6 win. “This is the best line in sports I believe. We’ll be prepared, take the next 40 hours or whatever it may be to try to get ready, get organized, and get ready to go into a hostile environment against the defending champs in the Western Conference finals.
“For a team that’s done it multiple times and knows exactly what it takes, I would expect to get their best punch. We’re gonna go out with our eyes wide open and expect nothing less.”
Here’s more on the Spurs:
- Second-year guard Stephon Castle has done an admirable job keeping Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in check during the Western Conference finals with smothering on-ball defense. Castle said the Spurs think they’re the better team heading into Saturday’s contest, according to Davis. “As a group, we all want this,” Castle said. “It’s right there in front of us. We feel like collectively that we’re better than this team and we didn’t want to let our fans down on our home court either. So coming out here with a chance to go back to OKC and play a Game 7 I feel like is all the motivation we need.”
- After struggling in Games 3-5, in part due to a hamstring injury, Dylan Harper played a key role in the Spurs’ Game 6 victory, as Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes (subscription required). The rookie guard, who was selected second overall in last year’s draft, finished with 18 points (on 6-of-9 shooting), six rebounds and four assists in 22 minutes. “People pulled me aside, just kept instilling confidence in me, trying to tell me to just go out there and be me, be in attack mode at all times,” Harper said. “I think I went out there and did that today.”
- Starting wing Devin Vassell said sleep wasn’t easy to come by on Friday night, Orsborn notes in another subscriber-only story. Still, the 25-year-old appeared energetic and jovial during Saturday’s shootaround. “You dream of this as a kid,” Vassell said of playing in his first Game 7. “Just more excited than anything. We have a chance to do something special.”