The San Antonio Spurs are playing the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night.
While the New York Knicks are already on their way to the 2026 NBA Finals, the Spurs and Thunder still have to battle it out for who will represent the West in the championship series.
Ahead of the crucial Game 5, the Spurs’ starting lineup and final injury report were announced as they go back to Oklahoma City after tying the series 2-2 in San Antonio over the weekend.
Spurs Starting Lineup For Game 5 Vs Thunder
GettySAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – MAY 24: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs celebrates during the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Four of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Frost Bank Center on May 24, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas.
Shortly before tipoff, the Spurs’ starting lineup was confirmed.
De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Julian Champagnie, Devin Vassell, and Victor Wembanyama were all named as starters by head coach Mitch Johnson and his staff.
This is the typical starting five the Spurs have used for most of the season and playoffs when they’ve been healthy. In the regular season, this group went 21-3, while in the postseason they have a record of 8-4 through the first three and a half rounds.
Previously, when Fox was injured, it was Dylan Harper who stepped up and became the Spurs’ starting point guard. However, San Antonio is fully healthy for Game 5 against the Thunder, so they are going with their usual group for Tuesday night.
Still, as has been the case for the entire series, San Antonio will need their backups of Harper, Keldon Johnson, Carter Bryant, Harrison Barnes, and Luke Kornet if they want to take the series lead in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder are dealing with injuries to Ajay Mitchell and , so while the Spurs won’t be facing a full-strength OKC team, a win won’t come easy agains the defending champions.
Spurs Vs Thunder Game 5 Is A Massive Matchup
Along with just delivering as one of the most exciting playoff matchups in recent NBA memory, the Western Conference Finals is tied at 2-2 for the first time since 2018, when it was the Golden State Warriors facing the Houston Rockets.
With that, Game 5 becomes all the more important, as the series is now a best-of-three matchup, with each team already having two wins.
According to the NBA, historically, Game 5 tends to be the deciding contest when a series is tied two games apiece. In a post on social media, the league revealed how important Game 5s have been in the past, and how often the winner tends to go on to advance in the series.
“When the Conference Finals are tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner takes the series 76.4% (42-13) of the time!” the NBA wrote.
Still, the Spurs, or at leas Johnson, the current Sixth Man of the Year award winner, understands the importance of the upcoming contest against the Spurs. When speaking to Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio’s emotional leader had a telling quote about the team’s mindset for the crucial matchup.
“This is the biggest game of the season right here tonight,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be a dog fight. It’s going to be tough, but I feel like we are built for the moment and we are built for these times and I feel like we’ll show it tonight.”
A fully healthy Spurs team could take a 3-2 series lead with a win in Game 5, which tips off at 7:30 pm EST on Tuesday, May 26, and live on NBC and Peacock.
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