2 weeks ago
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bounced backmost from a subpar bid opener to people 30 points, Alex Caruso added 17 disconnected nan chair and nan big Oklahoma City Thunder hit nan San Antonio Spurs 122-113 connected Wednesday nighttime successful Game 2 of nan Western Conference finals.
Chet Holmgren scored 13 points and reserves Jared McCain and Cason Wallace each had 12 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder vanished pinch a 57-25 separator successful chair scoring, positive a 27-10 advantage successful points disconnected turnovers.
“I thought we each played better,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I had a quiet assurance astir that. I didn’t cognize if we’d triumph aliases suffer nan game, but I was beautiful judge aft watching Game 1 and knowing our squad that we were going to travel retired and play amended tonight.”
Stephon Castle scored 25 points for nan Spurs, who sewage 22 points from Devin Vassell and a 21-point, 17-rebound, six-assist, four-block nighttime from Victor Wembanyama.
Game 3 is Friday successful San Antonio.
“The guys brought it tonight,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who was precocious named nan convention MVP for nan 2nd consecutive season. “Knowing what it would person meant if we mislaid this one, we brought nan power from nan jump.”
The Thunder playbook successful Game 2 was astir making life arsenic difficult arsenic imaginable for Wembanyama, hoping to forestall outbursts for illustration the 41-point, 24-rebound gem he put together successful San Antonio’s 122-115 triumph successful Game 1.
“Every bully player, they person to consciousness nan defense,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s tough. He’s very different to scout. You’ve sewage to effort to operation things up, you’ve sewage effort different things. And that’s conscionable what we did. Coach tried thing successful nan first game, didn’t for illustration it, tried thing else. That’s what it’s about.”
The triumph was not without costs for nan Thunder, who mislaid defender Jalen Williams successful nan first half pinch a recurrence of a hamstring issue. He had already missed six games successful these playoffs pinch a near hamstring strain. The Thunder said it was tightness, but moreover that would fig to put his readiness for Friday into doubt.
The Spurs besides sewage banged up. Already without All-Star defender De’Aaron Fox because of ankle soreness, San Antonio mislaid his replacement successful nan starting lineup, Dylan Harper, to a correct limb wounded aft he took a mates of awkward falls successful nan 3rd quarter.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson had nary update connected Harper aft nan game, though he noted that it puts “a ton” of unit connected others erstwhile his squad is down 2 guards.
“Obviously this squad is arsenic bully arsenic anybody astatine turning you over, truthful erstwhile you’re down immoderate of your superior creators and initiators it causes a small spot of an other strain, whether that’s who to play, what to play, what to run, etc, etc,” Johnson said. “We’ll conscionable person to beryllium sharper successful that area because it’s reliable afloat loaded against these guys.”
