Home BASKETBALL NBA Thunder Beat Spurs 127-114, Move Within One Win of Finals

Thunder Beat Spurs 127-114, Move Within One Win of Finals

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Thunder Vs Spurs
Thunder roll past Spurs to take control of west finals 

The Thunder defeated the Spurs 127-114 to go up 3-2 in the Western Conference finals. Game 6 is Thursday in San Antonio.


A 40-point second quarter powered Oklahoma City to a 3-2 series lead. Victor Wembanyama had 20 points on 4-of-15 shooting...


Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 32 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder past the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 on Tuesday. The win puts Oklahoma City one victory away from a return to the NBA Finals.


Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder took advantage of San Antonio’s sloppy play to take the game. The result gives the reigning champions a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals, with two chances left to close it out.


San Antonio had tied the series 2-2 with a gritty win on Sunday but looked off in Game 5 at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center.


Spurs star Victor Wembanyama struggled from the floor, finishing with 20 points on 4-of-15 shooting and just six rebounds.


Spurs forward Devin Vassell also struggled, managing only six points on 2-of-11 shooting after averaging 17 points through the first four games of the series.


Oklahoma City will travel to San Antonio for Game 6 on Thursday with a chance to close out the series. After a slow start, they delivered a typically composed performance to secure a win they earned.


Gilgeous-Alexander was one of five Thunder players to score in double digits. Alex Caruso added 22 off the bench, hitting four threes, and Jared McCain chipped in 20 points. Chet Holmgren finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Isaiah Hartenstein posted 12 points and 15 rebounds.


“I might have had the worst start to a basketball game in my career, but the group held it down and kept us in the game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, referring to Oklahoma City’s sluggish first quarter that let San Antonio build an early eight-point lead.


“Somehow we still won the first quarter but that's a testament to the guys in the locker room.


“I've been saying it all year - we're a group of one through 15, and we wouldn't be this deep in the season without everybody on the team, and it showed again tonight,” the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player added.


“We made adjustments after the last game and applied what we learned.


“Against a really good team you've just got to try to be better each and every game, and we definitely got better from the last game.”


SGA Turns It On in Second Quarter

After a slow start, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 points as part of Oklahoma City’s 40-point second quarter. That burst helped the champions build a lead they never gave up.


Oklahoma City led by 20 in the third quarter. San Antonio cut it to eight late in the period, but the Thunder steadied themselves and pulled away again.


San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson criticized his team’s high number of mistakes during the game. He also said he wants Wembanyama to play more aggressively in Thursday’s must-win Game 6.


“It just felt like it was a little bit of everything in terms of that we did not put ourselves in a position to be successful in each possession,” Johnson said.


“To beat a team of this caliber in their own building with what's at stake, you need to be a lot better to give yourself a chance.”




Johnson said Wembanyama has to score more if the Spurs want to stay alive in the series.


“He's got to take more than 15 shots, and he's gonna have to score more than 20 points for sure,” Johnson said.






“He'll definitely need to take more shots but there's a lot of things all over the place, where we had advantages and we just didn't make simple plays to take advantage,” he added.




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