05/20/26 10:17:00
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05/20 22:16 CDT Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 30, Thunder top Spurs 122-113 in
Game 2 of West finals
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 30, Thunder top Spurs 122-113 in Game 2 of West
finals
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) --- The MVP looked like the MVP again, and the Western
Conference finals are knotted up.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bounced back from a subpar series opener to score 30
points, Alex Caruso added 17 off the bench and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat
the San Antonio Spurs 122-113 on Wednesday night in Game 2.
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 edge in bench
scoring, plus a 27-10 edge in points off turnovers.
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. Knowing what it would have meant if we lost this
one, we brought the energy from the jump," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
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 these 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
Friday into doubt.
And 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.
San Antonio was down by 11 at the half and trailed by eight going into the
fourth quarter, then got within 99-97 off a corner 3-pointer by Harrison Barnes
with 9:06 left.
The next 2 1/2 minutes saved the Thunder. An 11-0 run by the defending
champions --- including a banked-in 3-pointer by Jared McCain midway through
the burst --- pushed OKC's lead to 13.
But the Spurs were far from done. Wembanyama scored down low to make it 118-113
with 1:25 remaining, but Gilgeous-Alexander got one last basket to settle
things down and send the series to San Antonio tied.
___
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