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Aday Mara needed just one game to suddenly make the Thunder seem much better suited to handle Victor Wembanyama this season.
The Thunder’s 7-foot-3 rookie had a strong debut Tuesday and helped Oklahoma City hold the Spurs’ phenom to a career-worst shooting night in a 116-104 road win in a Western Conference finals rematch.
Mara scored seven points while adding two rebounds and one block in 12 minutes, including a pivotal third-quarter sequence where he blocked Wembanyama and then scored on the other end.
“He was awesome,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Great poise, great impact. He had probably one of the stretches of the game — it’s a critical thing there when he blocked the shot and went down and finished the other end. He didn’t seem overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the game.
“I’m not really surprised by how he’s performed in preseason. I think he’s proven to be a very impactful player. His minutes weren’t high tonight but his impact was. Clearly, somebody we trust, put him in that game and we’re only going to trust him more after seeing how he performed in a high-level game.”
The Thunder and Spurs are both stocked with talent and seem destined to clash in the playoffs for years to come, meaning they both can build rosters with the other team in mind.
In last year’s conference finals, Wembanyama had his way against Oklahoma City to the tune of 27.3 points per game, 10.9 rebounds per contest and 2.7 blocks per game to eliminate the reigning champions.
Oklahoma City’s big-man duo of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein proved helpless in the series, with Holmgren particularly being ineffective.
The Thunder responded by using the No. 12 pick in the draft to select Mara out of Michigan after he helped the Wolverines win the national title.
Adding the 262-pounder suddenly gave Oklahoma City another weapon to throw at Wembanayama, and he provided encouraging results Tuesday.
His highlight sequence came in the third quarter with Oklahoma City leading 82-70 when Mara blocked Wembanyama while he attempted to score on an alley-oop.
Moments later, Mara scored on an alley-oop.
Mara told a Spanish outlet that he received a game ball for his efforts.
“I’m happy it’s official now,” he told CARTV, as reported by eurohoops.net. “I felt good playing, and I felt like I helped the team, so I’m happy.”
The trio of Mara, Holmgren and Hartenstein ultimately held Wembanyama to 13 points on 1 of 12 shooting to allow the Thunder to exact revenge for last year’s playoffs exit.
“There’s always a variance to it,” Daigneault said of slowing down Wembanyama. “I thought he missed shots that he can normally make from the floor. I thought Chet did a great job on him. I thought Mara did a great job on him the possessions he had tonight.
“I thought we collectively had the right amount of response to him.”