Chris Webber Predicts Spurs Beat OKC by Double-Digits in West Finals Game 6

Chris Webber is not just expecting San Antonio to win game six. He is expecting a blowout. Back home, in front of an angry crowd, Webber predicted the Spurs win by a double-digit margin and push the series to a game seven.

His reasoning was about character more than schemes. If you saw the energy and passion the other night, Webber said, there were probably tears in that locker room, and he trusts a team built on that kind of work ethic. Some nights, he argued, the X's and O's matter less than momentum, and a proud team coming home ticked off is exactly the situation he loves as a former player. If you are a Spurs fan, he said, you almost want Wembanyama to have had a rough game, because it is not going to happen twice in a row.

The path to a Spurs win, in Webber's view, runs through Wembanyama getting fundamental. Maybe it is not a logo three this time, he said, but a trip to the line 20 times. Webber circled back to a Shaq principle: if you are the tallest player on the floor, you should dominate, and that dominance forces everyone else to respond to you every single possession. That, he said, is the level Wembanyama is going to reach.

He wants to see the simple stuff. Fifteen jump hooks would do it, Webber said, because a turnaround jump hook from a player his size is probably going in. When you get desperate, you go to your sweet spots, and he expects Wembanyama to attack the basket, work the pick-and-roll, and live where he is most comfortable.

Webber also swatted away the excuse making the rounds, that Wembanyama looked tired. Everybody is tired, he said. He invoked an old saying about finding a way regardless, and pointed out that even LeBron is tired while everyone keeps trying to beat him. Fatigue is not the story.

Instead, Webber returned to the idea of learning the game, describing a kung-fu principle he and his teammates used to talk about: the more an opponent leans on you, the more you use that energy against him. That is where back-to-the-basket spin moves come from, and where a player as tall as Wembanyama becomes the best decoy in the world, drawing two defenders and opening cutting lanes for everyone else. Eventually, Webber said, Wembanyama becomes a point center facilitating from all over the floor. But he has to get there by being dominant, and that, Webber stressed, is not always about shooting threes.