Thunder 127, Spurs 114: The Day After Report
OKC leads 3-2 in series
PHOTOS⚡THUNDER | NBA Play-by-Play | CourtSketch Box Score
Postgame Bolts
- Jared McCain earning a starting spot in the Western Conference Finals is a testament to his talent + ability to quickly become an impact player on a new team. But also an indication of how much OKC needs another ball handler and more offense in the absence of JDub and Ajay Mitchell.
- Jared McCain received a huge ovation from Loud City when he was introduced as a starter.
- Early story of the game was wide-open Julian Champagnie 3s. Helped build an 8-point 1st quarter Spurs lead.
- Chet Holmgren got off to a great start in Game 5.
8 PTS, 4-4 FG, 4 REB, 1 STL
Chet kept OKC in it early. - Kenrich Williams got 1st quarter minutes for the second straight game. Kenny Hustle can still provide a spark despite being out of the playoff rotation to this point.
- Offense looks a lot different when 3s are falling.
#analysis - Loud City was absolutely electric in Game 5 from pregame to the final buzzer.
- Very natural head-flailing-back motion from Wemby on a foul that will definitely not be clipped, put into slo-mo, and go viral.
- Wemby getting "flopper" chants in OKC. Oh, how the turn tables.
- Alex Caruso continues to be a complete agent of chaos on defense and Steph Curry on offense.
- That SGA baseline stepback jumper where he almost dropped Wemby has gotta make the career highlight reel.
- Stephon Castle finally gets called for grabbing and holding SGA and cannot believe it.
- Playoff Alex Caruso is a max player.
- The whistles had to be exhausted going into halftime.
- Thunder had 69 points at halftime of Game 5. Nice.
- Thunder scored 82 points total in Game 4. Not nice.
- Jared McCain hit the most impossible Russell Westbrook-ish flip-shot and-1.
- Spurs with a +14 free throw advantage in Game 4: crickets. OKC with a +1 free throw advantage at halftime of Game 5: social media is all refs talk.
- Jared McCain came out of halftime on an absolute heater.
- Thunder got up 85-65.Spurs respond with a 14-2 run on the strength of 3 straight 3s.Heavyweight battle between these two teams.
- The pop in Loud City when SGA hit that transition 3 to put OKC up 112-99 was a decibel breaker.
- Jared McCain has been an absolute game changer. Gets his first playoff start on a team he's only been on for 3 months. Scores 20 points on 3-8 3-point shooting and hit so many big buckets in the second half.
- Mason Plumlee threw a shoulder into Jared McCain's back. Garbage move in garbage time.
- Shout out to Kenrich Williams. Out of the playoff rotation because of OKC's depth. Jumps in with JDub and Ajay Mitchell out in the Thunder's biggest game of the season. Kenny Hustle scored 8 points on 3-3 shooting including 2-2 from 3 and brought his trademark energy and D.
- Great bounce back from OKC after the blowout loss in Game 4. No JDub. No Ajay Mitchell. Thunder D held Wemby to 20 points on 4-15 shooting and 6 rebounds. SGA, Chet, Hartenstein, McCain, Caruso, Wallace, and Kenrich were excellent.
- 1 win from a return trip to the NBA Finals.
One Key Takeaway
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