The Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead.
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t reach 69 points in Game 4 until 5:04 remained in the game.
They matched that total by halftime of Game 5 as the Thunder constructed their best offensive game of the Western Conference Finals and defeated the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 Tuesday for a 3-2 series lead.
Two-time Kia MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander overcame a turnover-plagued start and scored at least 30 points for the second time in the series; the Thunder’s two 7-footers, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein produced offensively and limited Victor Wembanyama’s dominance in the paint; and Thunder coach Mark Daigneault’s change to the lineup paid dividends for the starters and the bench.
Playing with the force that Daigneault said was missing in their Game 4 loss, the defending champions are one victory from a return trip to the NBA Finals.
“We were first to the fight on both ends, and we weren’t the other night,” Daigneault said. “That’s why that game went the way it did, and I think that’s why (Game 5) went the way it did. Obviously, there’s always some variance. They missed some good looks, but I just loved looking internally at us. I just loved the way that we approached the game on both ends of the floor. We attacked the game and were rewarded for that.”
Teams that win Game 5 of a 2-2 best-of-7 series go on to win the series 81.8% of the time.
Game 6 is Thursday in San Antonio (8:30 ET, NBC/Peacock).
Here are four takeaways from Game 5:
1. Gilgeous-Alexander fights through early offensive issues
Gilgeous-Alexander was not pleased with his start to Game 5: 1-for-6 from the field with four turnovers.
“If it was five me’s out there, we probably would’ve been down 20 after the first quarter,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
San Antonio’s defense continued to pester Gilgeous-Alexander and make the 2025-26 MVP work for his offense.
However, Gilgeous-Alexander remained persistent, finding success with his mid-range baseline jumper. And he got to the foul line, shooting 10-for-10 on free throws in the first half. He went into halftime with 19 points, three assists, two steals and five turnovers.
Highlights from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 32-point game vs. the Spurs.
He finished with 32 points on 7-for-19 shooting from the field and 16-for-17 from the free throw line. Gilgeous Alexander, who had 12 points in the second quarter and 11 in the third, added nine assists (six in the second half), two steals and one block along with six turnovers.
“He usually doesn’t go a full game struggling like that,” Daigneault said. “He obviously didn’t have his fastball early, but he stays so present. His confidence never wavers. He really has great trust in himself, and that was on display tonight.”
2. A closer look at the 7-footers
Wembanyama, the Spurs’ 7-foot-4 star, scored 20 points, but it was a struggle to get those points with 12 coming on free throws. Wembanyama was 4-for-15 from the field (just two attempts in the first quarter), had a series-low eight points in the paint and missed shots at the rim he usually makes.
He collected six rebounds and just one in the first half.
“At the end of the day with any great player, you’re not going to stop him just with one player,” Hartenstein said. “So just going in there, just making his looks hard, making sure he just doesn’t get anything easy. And we just did a great job as a team executing that. Again, a great player, so you just have to do it as a collective.”
Said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson: “He’s got to take more than 15 shots even with the free throws, and yeah, he’s going to have to score more than 20 points for sure.”
The Thunder needed a better game from Holmgren, and he attacked offensively from the start. He scored Oklahoma City’s first two points and had eight of the team’s first 15 points. It was perhaps his best game of the series with 16 points, and 11 rebounds. Hartenstein also posted a double-double with 12 points, 15 rebounds (six offensive boards) and four assists – that’s 28 points and 26 rebounds from the Thunder’s 7-footers.
“It’s always important to be aggressive, but have a smart aggression,” Holmgren said. “I definitely feel like there’s been times or looks that I wasn’t able to take advantage of in the series, and tonight I was and I’ve got to try to keep that going.”
3. Daigneault’s lineup decisions work in Game 5
Thunder starting forward Jalen Williams (strained left hamstring management) was ruled out about an hour before tip-off, and Ajay Mitchell (strained right calf) missed his second consecutive game.
Daigneault, who isn’t wrapped up in who starts and who doesn’t, started Cason Wallace in Game 4 and went with Jared McCain instead of Wallace in Game 5.
The move worked for both players.
In his first playoff start, McCain rebounded from a tough shooting performance (1-for-10) in Game 4, scoring 20 points including 18 in the second half and nine in a four-minute stretch to open the third quarter, helping the Thunder extend their lead to 85-65.
Wallace had seven points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks, and in his 31 minutes, Oklahoma City outscored San Antonio by 29 points.
Alex Caruso sets a new postseason NBA record for the most 3PM off the bench in a single Conference Finals series.
Thunder reserve Alex Caruso didn’t score in Game 4 and contributed 22 points (4-for-8 on 3s), six assists and three steals. Kenrich Williams didn’t play in the first two games, got just 90 seconds in Game 3 and had eight points in 11 minutes Tuesday. His second 3-pointer pushed the Thunder’s lead to 93-81, slowing a Spurs run.
Oklahoma City shot 48.2% from the field, 43.8% on 3s and 33-for-38 from the free-throw line.
4. Spurs had chances to make it a closer game
San Antonio led 16-8 in the first quarter, and Julian Champagnie scored 13 of the Spurs’ first 18 points.
Champagnie, who entered the contest shooting 19.4% on 3s, ended up with 22 points (4-for-8 on 3s) and eight rebounds. Stephon Castle had 24 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals, and Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson produced his best game of the series with 15 points.
In a 13-point loss, there were some positives for San Antonio. The Spurs cut a 20-point deficit in the third quarter to 98-88 late in the third and were down 107-99 with a chance to make it a five- or six-point game nearly halfway through the fourth quarter.
San Antonio shot 40.2% from the field, 29.3% on 3s and Wembanyama wasn’t near his best – and the Spurs were still in the game until a 11-4 Oklahoma City run cemented the outcome.
“There’s a lot of things all over the place where even when we had advantages, and we just didn’t make simple plays that take advantage of the opportunity in that possession,” Johnson said. “In this type of game, you got to be sure of everything you’re doing in a very secure, mature way.”
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.
