NBA playoffs: Thunder one win from finals as Wembanyama declines to speak to media

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did not like the way he started on Tuesday night, but the Oklahoma City Thunder star came up big in the second and third quarters – with plenty of help from the cast around him – as the Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals. “I thought we were first to the fight tonight on both ends and I thought we weren’t the other night,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I just loved the way we approached tonight on both ends

“That’s one of the things that I always marvel at with him is his ability to course correct inside of a game,” Daigneault said. “He usually doesn’t go a full game struggling like that. He obviously didn’t have his fastball early.” Spurs star Victor Wembanyama finished with 20 points on 4-of-15 shooting to go with six rebounds. After averaging 20.5 rebounds per game in the first two games of the series, Wembanyama has just 18 total over the last three games. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Wembanyama was going to have to be a bigger force offensively if his team is going to be able to turn the series around and advance to the finals. “He’s going to have to take more than 15 shots even with the free throws,” Johnson said. “He’s going to have to score more than 20 points for sure.” Wembanyama chose not to speak to the media after the game. Oklahoma City will have a chance to close out the series in Game 6 on Thursday in San Antonio. It was a rough start for Gilgeous-Alexander, who missed his first four shots and had three first-quarter turnovers. “If it was four or five [versions of me] out there, we would’ve been down 20 after the first quarter,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Probably should never start like that again.” But even with the back-to-back MVP’s struggles, the Thunder led after a quarter thanks in part to Gilgeous-Alexander’s seven points in the final two minutes. In Sunday’s 103-82 loss, Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso and Jared McCain combined for just 14 points on 4-of-19 shooting.

Key points

• “That’s one of the things that I always marvel at with him is his ability to course correct inside of a game,” Daigneault said.
• “He usually doesn’t go a full game struggling like that.
• He obviously didn’t have his fastball early.” Spurs star Victor Wembanyama finished with 20 points on 4-of-15 shooting to go with six rebounds.
• After averaging 20.5 rebounds per game in the first two games of the series, Wembanyama has just 18 total over the last three games.
• Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Wembanyama was going to have to be a bigger force offensively if his team is going to be able to turn the series around and advance to the finals.