NBA playoffs: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bounces back as Thunder even series with Spurs | NBA
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bounced back from a mediocre first game to score 30 points, Alex Caruso added 17 off the bench and the host Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 122-113 Wednesday night in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.
Chet Holmgren scored 13 points and reserves Jared McCain and Cason Wallace each had 12 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder finished with a 57-25 advantage in bench scoring, plus a 27-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
“I thought we all played better,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I had a quiet confidence about it. I didn’t know if we were going to win or lose the game, but I was pretty sure, after watching the first game and knowing our team, that we were going to play better tonight.”
Stephon Castle scored 25 points for the Spurs, who got 22 points from Devin Vassell and a 21-point, 17-rebound, six-assist, four-block night from Victor Wembanyama.
Game 3 is Friday in San Antonio.
“The guys brought it tonight,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who was recently named league MVP for a second straight season. “Knowing what it would have meant if we lost this one, we collected the energy from the jump.”
The Thunder’s playbook in Game 2 was to make life as difficult as possible for Wembanyama, hoping to avoid explosions like the 41-point, 24-rebound gem he created in San Antonio’s 122-115 win in Game 1.
“Any good player has to feel the defense,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s difficult. He’s a very different recruit. You have to try to mix things up, you have to try different things. And that’s exactly what we did. The coach tried something in the first game, he didn’t like it, he tried something else. That’s what it’s about.”
The victory did not come without cost for the Thunder, who lost guard Jalen Williams in the first half due to a recurrence of a hamstring issue. He had already missed six games during these playoffs due to a left hamstring strain. The Thunder said it was a tight end, but even that would put his availability for Friday in doubt.
Spurs were also affected. Already without All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox due to ankle soreness, San Antonio lost his replacement in the starting lineup, Dylan Harper, to a right leg injury after suffering a couple of awkward falls in the third quarter.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson had no update on Harper after the game, although he noted it put “a ton” of pressure on others when his team was down two guards.
“Obviously this team is as good as anyone at knocking you down, so when you lose some of your key creators and initiators, it causes a little bit of extra tension, whether it’s figuring out who to play, what to play, what to lead, etc, etc,” Johnson said. “We’ll just have to be more precise in that area because it’s tough against these guys.”
