Victor Wembanyama was playing in the grandest stage yet of his fledgling career, yet towered above the rest literally and figuratively in a classic opening to the Western Conference finals.

The French star had 41 points and 24 rebounds on Monday to lift the San Antonio Spurs over the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-115 in a double-overtime classic.

Dylan Harper finished with 24 points and recorded a team playoff-record seven steals to aid the Spurs.

Wembanyama sealed the win with a pair of dunks in the final minute, one of them leading to a three-point play as the Spurs stole home-court advantage and beat the Thunder for the fifth time in six meetings this season.

Stephon Castle had 17 points, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson each scored 13 and Julian Champagnie added 11 for the Spurs, who were without De'Aaron Fox because of ankle stiffness.

"A great effort - from everybody," said Wembanyama, who, at 22 years, 134 days, became the youngest player with at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was 22 years, 343 days when he had a 40/20 game in the 1970 NBA Finals.

Alex Caruso scored 31 points - the second-highest scoring game of his career - off the bench for the Thunder, who had their nine-game playoff winning streak dating back to Game 7 of last season's Finals snapped.

Jalen Williams returned from a six-game absence caused by a hamstring strain and scored 26 points for the Thunder, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - on the night he got his second straight Most Valuable Player trophy - had 24 points and 12 assists but shot seven for 23.

It was the sixth Game 1 in NBA playoff history to go into double overtime - the first since a Spurs-Warriors game in 2013.

Game 2 is on Wednesday at Oklahoma City.

"It was a war of wills," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "The levels of mental toughness exuded by both teams ... we needed every second from everybody that played."

The Spurs were up by 10 with 9:10 left in regulation, wasted it all, then survived a frantic final stretch where the lead changed hands twice and the game was tied three times in a span of less than two minutes.

Wembanyama had an off-balance chance to win it on the last play of regulation, but Chet Holmgren swatted it away.

Gilgeous-Alexander had his worst first half, shooting-wise, in nearly three years - one for five from the field - for four points. It was the first time since October 29, 2023, a span of 270 appearances including playoffs, that he didn't have at least two field goals before halftime.

"We have to get better from this game," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

Meanwhile, Wembanyama was doing whatever he wanted - dunking over trios of defenders, flexing at times, finishing the half with 14 points and 10 rebounds, looking perfectly comfortable in his debut on this stage.