The Oklahoma City Thunder grabbed a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference Finals after beating the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 on Tuesday night. Oklahoma City rode a balanced offensive surge to outlast San Antonio in a foul-heavy battle, moving within one win of returning to the championship stage.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carried the load for the Thunder by scoring 32 points and dishing out nine assists. He spent the entire night attacking the paint and finished a near-perfect 16-of-17 from the free-throw line. But the real story was how Oklahoma City survived injuries to key starters Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell, forcing rookie Jared McCain into his first career playoff start.
And the rookie delivered when it mattered most, fueling a second-half scoring surge alongside veteran Alex Caruso who added 22 points off the bench. McCain scored 18 of his 20 points after halftime, giving the home crowd a huge lift just as San Antonio threatened to close the gap. The Thunder built their foundation during a 40-point second quarter where both teams combined to shoot 29 free throws.
San Antonio struggled to find any clean looks inside as Victor Wembanyama finished with 20 points on a tough 4-of-15 shooting performance. It was a far cry from earlier in the series when Wembanyama drops 41 and 24 to stun the defenders. Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 24 points and Julian Champagnie put up 22, but the visitors could not overcome a self-inflicted disaster late in the third quarter.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson tried to challenge an out-of-bounds call with his team trailing, but the referees upheld the decision. An angry Johnson then picked up a technical foul, which allowed Gilgeous-Alexander to walk to the line and sink three consecutive free throws to push the Thunder lead to 101-88. According to a post-game report by the Olympics editorial team, Johnson did not hold back on his star center after the game, stating that Wembanyama ‘needs to score more than 20 points, for sure.’
The series now shifts back to San Antonio for Game 6 on Thursday night. The winner of this matchup will secure a spot in the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks, who clinched their first trip to the finals since 1999 and are currently waiting for the Western Conference champion to emerge, as detailed by the Inquirer.