Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got off to a shocking start but recovered to play a key role as the Oklahoma City Thunder claimed Game Five and a 3-2 lead against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander committed three turnovers and missed his first four shots from the field in a terrible first quarter but the Thunder still edged it 29-27, demonstrating their strength in depth once again.
Once he had found his range, there was no stopping the back-to-back MVP as he poured in 32 points to help Oklahoma to a 127-114 win.
“I always say we’re a team out there,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “We don’t get this far, I don’t have this individual success, this team doesn’t have the success without all 15 guys in the locker room. We proved it tonight.
“If it was four or five me’s out there, we would’ve been down 20 after the first quarter. But the guys were great to start the game. I probably should never start like that again and give us a better chance to win a ball game, but the guys held it down.”
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Key trio stand up for Thunder
Chet Holmgren had eight of his 16 points in the opening quarter to make up for Gilgeous-Alexander’s lack of impact while Jared McCain helped bring them home with 18 in the second half.
Alex Caruso was another impressive contributor with 22 points, six assists and three steals in 28 minutes off the bench.
“He’s played in the most big games on this team,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Caruso. “That experience you can’t recreate or manufacture. AC isn’t some uber-talented guy… But he’s one of – if not the best competitor in the NBA night in and night out. He wears that and he sets that tone for us as a group, and it’s come full-fledged this series with guys out and him having to step up.”
Wembanyama kept in check as Thunder move ahead
If Gilgeous-Alexander was able to break out of his early slump, the same could not be said for the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama, who had a rare off night to typify his team’s struggles.
The French superstar scored 20 points but shot just 27% from the field.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said: “OKC did a good job. We’ve got to do a better job. That’s probably the easiest in terms of when you [look at] surface-level stuff that he [Wembanyama] will definitely need to take more shots. But there’s a lot of things all over the place. Even when we had advantages, we just didn’t make simple plays and take advantage of the opportunity, that possession. In this type of game, you’ve got to be sure of everything you’re doing in a very secure, mature way.”
Game Six is tomorrow night with the New York Knicks, who swept the Cleveland Cavaliers, waiting in the finals.
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