The Oklahoma City Thunder redeemed themselves from a heartbreaking Game 1 loss in the Western Conference Finals by evening the series against the San Antonio Spurs.
Oklahoma City defeated the Spurs 122-113 on Wednesday night to level the series at a game a piece in the defense of their NBA crown.
After being held to a horrendous 7-of-23 shooting line in Game 1, Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 30 points while hitting half his shots – adding nine assists, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal to round out his stat line.
Alex Caruso backed up ‘SGA’ from the bench with 17 points, three rebounds and five assists.
The Spurs were led by Stephon Castle’s 25 points, five rebounds and eight assists. But the guard committed nine costly turnovers in the defeat.
Meanwhile, star big man Victor Wembanyama put up the third-most points of any Spurs player (21) alongside a team-high 17 rebounds.
Chet Holmgren (7) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) gave Oklahoma City a Game 2 victory
Gilgeous-Alexander shook off his poor Game 1 shooting night with a 30 point redemption
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama dropped a 21 point, 17 rebound double-double
Devin Vassell managed the team’s second-best scoring mark of 22 points while Dylan Harper and Keldon Johnson combined for 22 points.
Oklahoma City benefited from a return-to-form from center Isaiah Hartenstein – who dropped a 10 point, 13 rebound double-double.
The victory did not come without a price for the Thunder, who lost guard Jalen Williams due to a recurring hamstring issue.
The team categorized Williams’ injury as mere ‘tightness’ but did not say if he would be cleared for Friday’s Game 3 in San Antonio.
After being down 11 points at the half and eight in the fourth quarter, the Spurs cut the deficit to three points with just over nine minutes remaining.
Oklahoma City then rattled off an 11-0 run across a two-and-a-half minute stretch to push the lead to 13.
San Antonio battled back to cut the deficit to five with 1:25 left in the contest, only for Gilgeous-Alexander to hit a bucket that halted the Spurs’ momentum.
‘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.
