Fri, May 22, 2026 page6

• Thunder defeat Spurs in Game 2 to level series

  • AP, OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma
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  Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday bounced back from a sub-par series opener to score 30 points, while Alex Caruso added 17 off the bench as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 122-113 in Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference finals.

  Chet Holmgren scored 13 points, while reserves Jared McCain and Cason Wallace each had 12 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder finished with a 57-25 edge 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 that. I didn’t know if we’d win or lose the game, but I was pretty sure after watching Game 1 and knowing our team that we were going to come out and play better tonight.”

  

  The San Antonio Spurs’ Keldon Johnson, left, passes as Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder defends during Game 2 of their NBA Western Conference final series at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Wednesday.

  Photo: AP

  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 scheduled for San Antonio, Texas, today, with the series tied at 1-1.

  “The guys brought it tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Knowing what it would have meant if we lost this one, we brought the energy from the jump.”

  

  The San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle, left, defends as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder looks for options during Game 2 of their NBA Western Conference final series at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Wednesday.

  Photo: Alonzo Adams / Imagn Images

  Isaiah Hartenstein — who barely played in Game 1 — had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder, who improved to 14-5 after a loss this season — and beat the Spurs for just the second time in seven meetings.

  The win was not without cost for the Thunder, who lost guard Jalen Williams — who had already missed six games in the playoffs with a left hamstring strain — in the first half with a recurrence of the hamstring issue.

  The Thunder said it was tightness, but even that would figure to put his availability for today’s game in doubt.

  

  The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren, left, and Dylan Harper of the San Antonio Spurs lie on the floor during Game 2 of their NBA Western Conference final series at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Wednesday.

  Photo: AP

  The Spurs got banged up as well. Already without All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox because of ankle soreness, San Antonio lost his replacement in the starting lineup — Dylan Harper — to a right-leg injury after he took a couple of awkward falls in the third quarter.

  Spurs coach Mitch Johnson had no update on Harper after the game, although he said that it puts “a ton” of pressure on others when his team is down two guards.

  “Obviously this team is as good as anybody at turning you over, so when you’re down some of your primary creators and initiators it causes a little bit of an extra strain, whether that’s who to play, what to play, what to run, etc, etc,” Johnson said. “We’ll just have to be sharper in that area because it’s tough fully loaded against these guys.”
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