Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, bench propel Thunder past Spurs for 2-1 series lead

By RAUL DOMINGUEZ and TIM REYNOLDS The Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points and 12 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder climbed out of a 15-point hole minutes into the game to beat the San Antonio Spurs, 123-108, on Friday night and take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Jared McCain had a playoff-career-high 24 points and Jaylin Williams added 18 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder were without Jalen Williams, who sat out with left hamstring soreness.

Oklahoma City’s bench outscored San Antonio’s 76-23, including 15 points by Alex Caruso.

“We just went out there and competed,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They obviously jumped on us early. First game in their building, their crowd behind them, they were excited to play. We just wanted to make sure we competed from that point on. We obviously didn’t give our best effort to start that game, but can’t do nothing about it. It’s behind us. All we can do is focus on the next possession, and we did that.”

Victor Wembanyama had 24 points for San Antonio. Devin Vassell added 20 and De’Aaron Fox had 15 in his series debut.

The Thunder have won two straight after the Spurs’ double-overtime victory in Game 1. Game 4 is Sunday night.

Fox (sprained right ankle) and Dylan Harper (right adductor soreness) were cleared to play 45 minutes prior to tipoff.

Fox’s return sparked a historic start.

The Spurs raced to a 15-0 lead, the longest run to open a game in the conference finals since the play-by-play era began in 1997.

Fox opened the run by wrapping in a driving layup and Wembanyama followed by crossing over Isaiah Hartenstein to drill a 3-pointer. Vassell’s 3-pointer put the Spurs up 10-0, leading to an early timeout by Thunder coach Mark Daigneault.

“Other than the first 15 points, our defense was really tight,” Daigneault said. “We got back, settled down into the halfcourt. Our offense had something to do with that. We ran good offense tonight, despite the fact that they were amped up and ready to go, the Spurs were. It’s a discipline series. We did that. We couldn’t be reckless against them, they are too good with the ball, too well coached, too talented. So you’ve got to be able to do it with discipline. I thought we really were disciplined tonight.”

Isaiah Hartenstein broke the drought with a runner over Wembanyama, but the center was immediately greeted with thunderous boos after his physical play against the Spurs in Game 2.

The Thunder went on a 13-2 run when Wembanyama went to the bench and closed the first quarter trailing 31-26.

It was a pattern the Spurs could not overcome.

“It’s my first playoffs,” Wembanyama said. “It’s the first playoffs for many of us. Of course, there was going to be hard trials. It’s to be expected, but now we’re going to see what we’re made of.”

The series continued to be chippy with emotions boiling over early in the second half. Stephon Castle hit the court on back-to-back dunk attempts. The second resulted in a flagrant 1 foul against Ajay Mitchell and technical fouls on Mitchell and Vassell after the two exchanged words following the foul.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams extended Oklahoma City’s first lead to 35-31.

DEPTH CHARGE

Ordinarily, it would have been a disaster. Oklahoma City had three starters combine to score seven points in Game 3.

Few people probably noticed.

That’s how good the Thunder bench was – again.

They’ll give out a series MVP award when it ends, and if things keep going like this, it might be a good idea to cut it up into parts and just hand it out to those on the Thunder bench. OKC’s reserves outscored San Antonio’s bench 76-23 on Friday.

McCain (24) and Williams (18) both scored their playoff career highs and Caruso now has 63 in this series; that’s the best three-game scoring span of his career.

“I like proving my support system right,” said McCain, the former Corona Centennial High standout who was a midseason acquisition in a trade with Philadelphia. “The people who really believe in me, I like proving them right.”

Oh, they were right. And they had a lot to talk about Friday night.

“We talk about it a lot, in practice and throughout the whole playoffs: Be ready and stay ready,” McCain said. “Coaches have done a great job of that. … We all are hoopers and we all know what to do out there, especially this team. It’s a very mature team. Coming in, I just want to be as ready as I can, no matter what it is.”

He’s not alone. The entire OKC bench has been ready, throughout the whole series.

The Thunder got 50 points from their reserves in Game 1, then 57 in Game 2 – and on Friday, the bench mob struck again.

The 76 bench points were the most by a team in a conference finals game since the NBA went to the 16-team playoff format in 1984. The previous mark was 69 by the Lakers in 1985. Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren were the only Thunder starters to score in double figures.

It didn’t matter.

Daigneault went to his bench for the first time when they fell into the 15-0 hole.

And everything changed in an instant, a harbinger of what was to come. Caruso, McCain, Williams and Cason Wallace combined to score 21 points in the remainder of that first quarter. The Spurs’ lead was down to five going into the second, and it didn’t take long for Oklahoma City to grab control.

“We assume the opponent’s always at their best and we need to be at ours and depth is a part of that. … It just needs to be one of our strengths that we rely on, regardless of circumstance,” Daigneault said.

Oklahoma City’s bench contributed 62% of the scoring for the Thunder in Game 3 – something no team had done in a winning effort during a conference finals game in the last four decades. And after being down 15 at the start, the Thunder won by 15 at the end.

For the series, the Thunder reserves have outscored the Spurs’ bench 183-64.

“We were ready,” McCain said.

WEMBANYAMA: ‘WE’RE GOING TO SEE WHAT WE’RE MADE OF’

Wembanyama knows this is just part of his NBA education. For the first time since coming to San Antonio, he and the Spurs are trailing in a playoff series.

He hopes they’ll be quick studies.

When Game 3 was done, Wembanyama – as he tends to do, even as a 22-year-old in his first playoff run – summed up the moment perfectly.

“It’s my first playoffs. It was the first playoffs for many of us,” Wembanyama said. “Of course, there was going to be hard trials. It is to be expected. But now, we’re going to see what we’re made of.”

In other words, expect to see anything and everything the Spurs can muster in Game 4.

Wembanyama’s scoring numbers on Friday night were stellar again: 26 points in 39 minutes, during which the Spurs outscored the Thunder by four points. The problem was the other nine minutes, during which the Thunder outscored the Spurs by 19.

But Wembanyama – again, as he tends to do – found plenty of fault in his own game, after finishing with only four rebounds and three assists.

“I have trouble making my teammates better right now,” Wembanyama said. “I should do better. My shooting splits aren’t terrible. I need to be more of a team player.”

He was asked what that means.

“Facilitate better, rebound the ball better,” Wembanyama said. “Push their defense a little bit more, to fight further and see how much they’re willing to help off of my teammates and feed them.”

Wembanyama is averaging 29.3 points and 15 rebounds in the three games. But the Spurs clearly need more against the defending champions and San Antonio’s best player knows it.

The question is how the Spurs can get there. And that, he said, would be what Saturday’s focus is about.

“I feel like each and every one of us has got to be better,” Wembanyama said. “As a team, as an organization, there’s a lot of new experiences. We’re just going to have to find the answers.”