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OKLAHOMA CITY — For the 160th time in NBA history and fifth time this season alone, a Game 7 awaits on Saturday night.
The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder will be taking on the San Antonio Spurs to decide the Western Conference title, after a back-and-forth series that has seen both teams leading at various points.
The winner will take on the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, starting Wednesday. Game 1 will be in either Oklahoma City or San Antonio.
Game 7s, Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said, are the things "dreams" are made of. But at least one of the Spurs said he had a little trouble getting to dreamland on Friday night; Devin Vassell revealed that he tossed and turned for at least a half-hour after trying to go to sleep.
"I'm more excited than anything," Vassell said at the Spurs' Saturday morning shootaround. "I think that we have a chance to do something special."
The Thunder won a pair of Game 7s last season at home, including the one that delivered the NBA championship over the Indiana Pacers. But guard Alex Caruso warned that having Game 7 experience isn't a reason to relax.
"Maybe just being here before, you have comfortability," Caruso said. "But at the same time, you don't want to be comfortable in a Game 7. If you're comfortable, you're probably not edgy enough. You probably don't have a high enough sense of urgency. ... You definitely don't want to be comfortable."
Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell will not play for the Thunder in Game 7 against the Spurs because of injuries that have dogged both throughout the series.
Williams has been dealing with a strained left hamstring for much of the playoffs. Mitchell has a strained right soleus.
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