The San Antonio Spurs went into Sunday night down 2-1 in the Western Conference finals, needing a big win to even the series before the action shifted back to Oklahoma City.
While the Spurs put plenty of work into their practices, they may have had a higher power on their side in Game 4.
For the first time this season, four nuns known as the Salesian Sisters sat courtside in San Antonio jerseys.
Before tip-off of the game between the Spurs and Thunder, the sisters were shown on the Jumbotron giving a pregame blessing to San Antonio center Luke Kornet.
The Spurs went on to win 103-82, tying the series at two games apiece, with Game 5 set for Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.
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Kornet finished the game with six points and seven rebounds off the bench, but afterward, he was all about maintaining the momentum.
“One-0, pretty good results. That’s not what it’s about, but we’ll take it. We’re gonna fly them to OKC. I don’t know, we got to get ’em on the plane.”
The four nuns are part of the San Antonio chapter of the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco. Several members are Spurs fans and have been known to attend games over the last couple of decades, per The Athletic.
The Salesian Sisters began following the Spurs in the late 1990s. They wanted “to better understand what interested their young charges at St. John Bosco School,” according to an article by the San Antonio Express-News.
One of the nuns, Sister Bernadette Mota, talked about basketball as a way to connect with young people and kids. “Our ministry is with young people, and we need to be able to converse with them and talk to them. I can talk basketball with the kids, and it’s something that I’ve really enjoyed watching.”
The Spurs appreciate the support. In 2007, former head coach Gregg Popovich and some players visited the nuns after winning the NBA Championship, per an ESPN interview with Sister Angelita Guzman.
Kornet received a blessing pre-game because he is a devout Catholic. Mota told the website Sojourners in an interview that Kornet was her favorite player because “I just really look up to the way he’s not afraid to share his faith on the public scene.”
Now that the series is tied, San Antonio has two days to figure out whether they can get the Salesian Sisters to Oklahoma City for Game 5. If not, they can be expected to be in attendance for a huge Game 6 back in San Antonio on Thursday.
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