Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Victor Wembanyama was held to a series-low 20 points as the San Antonio Spurs lost 127-114 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.
Wembanyama, who had 41-point and 33-point outings in the winning effort during the series, didn’t seem to quite roll as the Spurs fell 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points, while Alex Caruso led another strong bench effort with 22 as the Thunder moved one win away from a return trip to the NBA Finals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder took a 3-2 series lead with a win on Tuesday night.
Jared McCain — with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell both on call — also scored 20 in his first playoff start for the defending champions.
It was a much improved performance from the Thunder, who were held to 82 points in a Game 4 loss two days earlier.
Oklahoma City went up by 20 in the third quarter before San Antonio closed within eight. The Spurs may have had a few chances to cut the deficit further, but they were frustrated – and rightly so, it seemed – by some missed calls in the final minutes of the third.
The Thunder led 101-91 going into the fourth and they held a double-digit lead for all but 25 seconds of the final quarter — a huge turnaround from Sunday’s 21-point loss at San Antonio.
“We definitely played a lot better in terms of our process and then the results,” Thunder coach Mark Daigno said.
“It’s a playoff series. If you look at any playoff series that goes six games, at least there will be some tough games.
“We had a tough game the other night. This team does a great job of coming back the next day very neutral, whatever lessons are learned, applying them going forward and going into the next opportunity.”
Stephon Cassel scored 24 points for San Antonio, 22 points came from Julian Champagne and 20 points from Wembanyama, who were held to 4 of 15 shooting.
“It felt like a little bit of everything, we just didn’t put ourselves in a position to be successful on every possession,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said.
“And so, we’ve got to be a lot better at giving a team of this power, in their building, a stake, a chance.”
Game 6 will be Thursday in San Antonio. If there is a Game 7, it will be back in Oklahoma City on Saturday – with the New York Knicks waiting in the Finals, after disposing of the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games on Monday night.
The Knicks will travel to either the Thunder or the Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 3.
Watch NBA Playoffs live on Sky Sports. Didn’t get the sky? Get Sky Sports or Flow without any contract
