India, May 31 -- The Oklahoma City Thunder saw their championship hopes end with a Game 7 defeat to Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, falling one step short of the NBA Finals.

Entering the postseason, Oklahoma City was widely regarded as the team to beat after cruising to a dominant 64-win regular season and emerging as a leading title contender. They breezed through the opening two rounds of the postseason, dispatching both the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers in dominant sweeps.

Their toughest test came in the Western Conference Finals, where the 62-win Spurs mounted a comeback from a 3-2 series deficit to capture the series and end Oklahoma City's title bid.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did everyt...