Starting 5: Thunder grab 3-2 series edge; Closer look at Knicks' emergence

OKC stands tall behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for a 3-2 series lead, plus we dig into New York’s run to the NBA Finals.

5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀

One Win Away: SGA’s 30-ball and a full-team response in Game 5 puts the champs up 3-2

Thunder Sparks: McCain & Caruso deliver again as OKC’s supporting cast bounces back

Not Done Yet: Spurs head home with reasons for optimism, hope to force Game 7

‘Nova Knicks: From college to the NBA Finals, the Brunson-Bridges-Hart connection knows how to win

Knicks By The Numbers: 11 stats on New York’s historic 11-game streak

BUT FIRST … ⏰

With a 3-2 series lead, the Thunder visit the Spurs on Thursday for Game 6 of the West Finals (8:30 ET, NBC/Peacock), with OKC eyeing a trip to the NBA Finals, while San Antonio aims to force a Game 7.

Mazzulla Wins COTY: Boston’s Joe Mazzulla has been named the 2025-26 NBA Coach of the Year, earning the Red Auerbach Trophy.

Jerry Lucas, Beyond Basketball: Hall of Famer Jerry Lucas reflects on his IQ on and off the court, the 1973 Knicks title team and their parallels to this year’s Finals squad.

1. UNITED FRONT: THUNDER RESPOND IN GAME 5 FOR 3-2 LEAD 

One win away.

With a complete team win in Game 5, the Oklahoma City Thunder are 48 minutes from back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals.

Thunder 127, Spurs 114: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32 pts, 9 ast, 2 stl) bounced back from a slow start for his highest-scoring game of the series, and OKC responded early with a 40-point 2nd quarter to take the lead for good, along with a 3-2 series lead.

Stephon Castle (24 pts, 6 ast, 3 stl) led a trio of 20+ point Spurs scorers, with a Playoff career-high 22 for Julian Champagnie (8 reb, 3 stl, 4 3s) and 20 from Victor Wembanyama (6 reb, 3 blk). | Recap

• “I might have had the worst start to a basketball game of my career,” SGA said of missing his first four shots. “But the group held it down, kept us in the game.”
• Floodgates: Shai rebounded to score 7 points in the final two minutes of the 1st, catching up with Chet Holmgren’s 8 (4-4 FG). SGA opened up for 12 in OKC’s 40-point 2nd, while Alex Caruso also came alive en route to 22 points
• Spurs’ Stand: The Thunder surged to an 11-point halftime lead, and kept building to 20 less than 3 minutes into the 3rd. But San Antonio had a counter, ripping off a 21-9 run in under four minutes to pull within 8 (79-87)
• But that’s as close as it would get, as OKC held the Spurs to 23 4th-quarter points, before Caruso and Jared McCain (9 pts in 4th, 20 overall) helped slam the door (see Sec. 2 ⬇️)
• “A series, especially against a good team, is like a chess match,” SGA said. “You go back-and-forth with adjustments and game plans, switching to things and trying new things…”

“They obviously punched us really good in Game 4,” Shai said. “We got better than the team that played Game 4 for Game 5.”

• SGA’s Answer: After being held to 19 points in Game 4, SGA struck back with his 28th career 30+ point Playoff game. OKC is 6-0 when he’s reached that mark this postseason
• “That’s one of the things that I always marvel at with [SGA], is his ability to course correct inside of a game,” coach Mark Daigneault said. “He stays so present, his confidence never wavers.”
• “I don’t think we really could’ve played any worse than what we did in Game 4,” Isaiah Hartenstein (12 pts, 15 reb) said. “Being able to stay present through the ups and downs, that’s where you see our maturity a lot.”

Thunder Clap: OKC’s team-wide responses to their losses in this series have produced an average of 124.5 ppg (Games 2 & 5), plus SGA’s two 30+ games. They’re averaging 105.7 ppg in the series’ other games.

• “This isn’t a team that needs hoo-rah speeches,” Holmgren (16 pts, 11 reb) said. “Everybody’s pretty ready to go out there, do their job, and everybody’s excited about it.”

2. THUNDER SPARKS: CARUSO & McCAIN IGNITE OKC AGAIN

One is a two-time NBA champion with 67 career Playoff games under his belt – the most of anyone on OKC.

The other was making his first career Playoff start – in his first postseason.

Together, Alex Caruso and Jared McCain once again provided the spark behind a pivotal Thunder win.

• In Game 3, McCain (24) and Caruso (15) combined for 39 of OKC’s Playoff-high 76 bench points – outscoring San Antonio’s reserves (23) by themselves – to propel the Thunder to a 2-1 series lead
• In Game 4, the duo was quieted to a combined four points, shooting 1-for-11 from the field as the Spurs evened the series
• In Game 5, with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell out, McCain (20 pts, 3 3s) and Caruso (22 pts, 6 ast, 4 3s) didn’t just respond – they changed the game again

Opening 🤝 Closing: Caruso scored zero points in Sunday’s loss. Last night, he had 14 by halftime, including 11 in OKC’s game-breaking 2nd quarter.

McCain, making just his third start with the Thunder, had two points at the break.

He finished with 20, scoring 9 amid a 16-7 burst to open the 3rd, before adding 9 more in the 4th, highlighted by two key 3s to stave off a late Spurs’ push.

In between those triples? A Caruso trey, as the duo combined for 14 of OKC’s final 18 points.

Experience 🤝 Energy: With four 3s on the night, Caruso now has 18 this series, the most ever by a reserve in a single Conference Finals.

And while the 32-year-old vet helped steady OKC early, McCain – a 22-year-old sophomore with 5+ million TikTok followers and unlimited dance moves – helped swing the game late.

And his energy has become contagious.

• “He’s a special human being,” said Isaiah Hartenstein of McCain. “I’ve never seen someone so happy every single day. It just gives something to the locker room …
• “And on the court … he’s just supremely confident in himself, and it gives us confidence too.”

That confidence has added yet another layer to OKC’s depth, which has become a defining factor this series, as its bench (51.4) is outscoring San Antonio’s (25.4) by 26 ppg.

And while McCain got the start last night – becoming the third different player to fill in for Jalen Williams (hamstring) this series – his impact as a spark plug didn’t change.

• Series-Swinger: McCain has now scored 10+ points in three games this series: Game 2 (12), Game 3 (24) and Game 5 (20). OKC has won all three
• X-Factor: Overall this season, when McCain scores in double-figures, OKC is 18-3

And as the stakes rise, so does his self-belief.

• “Great mental toughness,” said coach Mark Daigneault of McCain. “I never take it for granted when somebody steps into a role like that in a game like this, but I’m certainly not surprised…
• “He’s got great moxy and confidence – and he showed that tonight.”

3. NOT DONE YET: SPURS HEAD HOME WITH REASONS FOR OPTIMISM

As the Thunder move one win away from the NBA Finals, the Spurs move one loss away from elimination.

But as this series has shown, momentum can shift quickly – and San Antonio has plenty of positives heading into Thursday’s Game 6 (8:30 ET, NBC/Peacock).

• Champagnie Finds His Shot: After shooting 19.4% from 3 through the first four games, Julian Champagnie went 4-of-8 from deep in Game 5, finishing with a series-high 22 pts
• Strong Start: Thirteen of those points came in the 1st quarter, as the Spurs opened the game on a 16-8 run to take control early
• Making Shai Work: Stephon Castle helped set the tone defensively, as San Antonio held Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 1-of-5 shooting in the 1st quarter and 5 turnovers in the 1st half
• Resilient Run: SGA and OKC ultimately answered, taking a 20-point lead midway through the 3rd, but the Spurs didn’t go away – responding with a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to eight

San Antonio couldn’t complete the comeback, but it was still in a game where Victor Wembanyama was uncharacteristically cold (20 pts, 4-15 FG, 0-5 3pm) and the team shot just 29.3% from 3 (12-41).

• “I feel like we started the game off well,” said Castle. “We created a lot of open shots. Probably could’ve had a big lead to start off, we just couldn’t really make any open shots.”

Now, the Spurs return home for Game 6, where they’re 37-11 this season, with one goal in mind:

“Find a way back here to force a Game 7,” said Castle

4. FROM ‘NOVA TO THE KNICKS, BRUNSON, BRIDGES & HART KNOW HOW TO WIN

In 2016, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart helped lead Villanova to its first men’s national title in over 30 years.

Ten years later, the trio is back in the championship round – this time, in the NBA Finals – looking to end New York’s 53-year title drought.

• March Dominance: In what Sports Illustrated called, at the time, the most dominant NCAA title run of the 2000s, 2016 Villanova became the first tourney team to beat four straight AP top-10 teams by 19+ ppg
• Sound Familiar? This Knicks squad has outscored opponents by 19.4 ppg in its dominant run to the NBA Finals, adding up to an NBA-record +271 point differential

“It’s always something you talk about and you dream about, but you know in reality, it’s almost impossible,” Hart said Monday of college conversations about playing together in the NBA …

“So the fact that it actually came to fruition is super cool, because I know the time that these guys put in, I know where their hearts are …”

• Looking Back: Hart recently took a walk down college memory lane, dishing out ‘Nova Knicks superlatives like most frequent campus visitor, and coach Jay Wright speed-dialer
• “It’s like fairytale stuff,” Brunson said when Hart joined him in New York in 2023. “Being with him, a guy who you watched him work from day one, and then to see where he is now … it’s pretty awesome.”
• Full Circle: New York completed its Wildcats lineup with the trade for Bridges in 2024, the first cross-city deal since the Nets moved to Brooklyn. Hart shared the ‘Nova group’s reaction

Just two seasons in as Knicks teammates, Brunson, Bridges and Hart look to repeat their championship feat in the NBA.

• On-Court Chemistry: The trio has been on the court for 321 minutes, 3rd-most among 3-man lineups in these Playoffs, with a +10.6 NetRtg and a +5.3 plus/minus
• Second Ever: They’ll join 1986-87 Celtics’ Danny Ainge, Greg Kite, and Fred Roberts – out of BYU – as the only trios of collegiate teammates to also play together in the NBA Finals
• “We already share a bond and a brotherhood for life and this is just another step there,” Hart said after the ECF win. “Obviously, this is not the ultimate goal. But you just keep adding memories … memories that we’ll have for a lifetime.”

5. KNICKS’ WIN STREAK BY THE NUMBERS: 11 STATS FOR 11 WINS

The Knicks are the league’s hottest team. They haven’t lost since April 23, and have rattled off 11 straight victories to sweep the 76ers and Cavaliers.

As they prepare for their first Finals appearance this century, let’s look at 11 numbers that help quantify just how hot they’ve been:

17.9: During the streak, the Knicks have averaged 17.9 ppg on fast breaks, the most of any team in that span.

23.8: Their +23.8 point differential is the highest in league history during an 11-game span — regular season or postseason.

24.5: New York’s net rating of +24.5 during the streak is more than double the next-best number (OKC at +8.2).

43.7: Led by Landry Shamet’s 69% clip, the Knicks’ bench has shot 43.7% on 3-pointers during their streak.

53.3/41.3: New York has shot 53.3% from the field and 41.3% from deep. No other team in league history has shot 53% and 40%, respectively, over an 11-0 Playoff streak.

72.2: The Knicks have created 72.2 ppg off assists during the streak. That’s the most in the league, powered by 17.4 per game off Brunson dimes, and 15.3 from Karl-Anthony Towns.

72.2 … again: In 4th quarters, Brunson has shot 72.2% (26-36 FG). The league average is 42.9% over the last 11 games.

102: New York’s 102 DefRtg during its streak is No. 1 in the NBA. In the regular season, its DefRtg was 112.3, good for 7th-best.

108: New York has scored 108+ points in every game during the streak, becoming the first team ever to do so over an 11-game span.

368: The lineup of Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Towns has scored 368 points together during the streak, the most of any five-man lineup in that span.

11: For 11 straight wins, powered by No. 11, Jalen Brunson (26.6 pts, 6.7 ast), who joins Steph Curry (2017), LeBron James (2016) and Kobe Bryant (2001) as the only players to average at least 26/6 over an 11-0 Playoff run.

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