The Spurs’ ongoing Conference Finals series against the OKC Thunder has emerged as one of the fiercest battles on the NBA court in recent times. With fresh buzz and twists surfacing every passing day, last night, a divine intervention worked for Victor Wembanyama & Co., especially a Spurs reserve big man, and the Thunder produced their worst performance in four years. 

Ahead of the tip-off, four nuns, dressed in their traditional white attire while also wearing Spurs jerseys on top, gathered near the court and blessed 7-foot-1 center Luke Kornet. The video of the blessing went instantly viral on social media.

The nuns in question are the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, who have been attending Spurs games for the last two decades. The Athletic has reported that the nuns didn’t appear for a single game this season until Game 4. 

Surprisingly, Kornet turned out to be their favorite player. Sister Bernadette Mota, speaking to Sojourners, said, “I just really look up to the way he’s not afraid to share his faith on the public scene.” And on his part, Kornet has openly embraced his Catholic faith and regularly shares opinions through his blogs.

Following their blessing, Kornet, taking the reserve center role to reduce Wembanyama’s load, produced a brilliant two-way game in limited minutes. In his 13-minute appearance, he recorded six points, seven rebounds, and two blocks. 

On top of it, the team’s emphatic 103-82 performance forced the Thunder into their worst performance in four years.

Victor Wembanyama & Co. dominate Thunder in their second-worst playoff performance

Following Game 1’s 41-point exploits, Wembanyama came alive last night, leading the game with 33 points. It was capped with an outrageous buzzer-beater from half-court to end the first half.

At that point, the Thunder had scored only 38 points. Looking at the record, the OKC has a 2-9 record whenever it scores 40 points in the first half in the last five seasons. The Spurs carried the same momentum into the second half. They restricted the visitors to 44 points, ending the night with 82.

It marked their second-lowest score in their playoff history. The worst score came in 2014, when they recorded 65 points against the Grizzlies. 

The team hasn’t produced a poor offensive stat line in the last four years, combining both regular season and postseason. Its last collapse came in the 2022 regular season, when it scored only 88 points against the Clippers. Notably, none of the current players were on the team, as the injury-riddled team played with just six players.

Reacting to the game, Kornet seemed convinced that nuns made the difference. He demanded to fly the nuns for Game 5. After the game, he said, “Pretty good results. That’s not what it’s about, but we’ll take it. We’re gonna fly them to OKC. I don’t know, we got to get ’em on the plane.”

Meanwhile, Wembanyama, speaking after the game, said, “It was better today. It wasn’t perfect. But, you know, all of us, I’m talking about the whole organization, so we’re going to have to do things that we didn’t sign up for.” Well, the fans certainly didn’t sign up for the viral moment before the tip-off.