Shai Gilgeous-Alexander & Oklahoma City Thunder answered back in a major way Wednesday night, defeating the San Antonio Spurs 122-113 in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals to even the series at one game apiece.
Oklahoma City leaned on its trademark depth, defensive pressure and the brilliance of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with 30 points and nine assists while turning the ball over only once.
“This late in the season, there’s nothing special that you can do,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Every team has their identity, and when they impose their identity more than the other team does, they usually win no matter what level or what stakes are in the game. Tonight we just did a better job of that than we did in the first game.”
The Thunder’s bench completely shifted the game. Oklahoma City outscored San Antonio’s reserves 57-25, with four bench players finishing in double figures.
Veteran guard Alex Caruso said the group never lost belief despite falling behind in the series.
“There’s no panic,” Caruso said.
The Thunder’s bench also generated 11 of the team’s 14 steals as Oklahoma City forced 21 turnovers and converted them into 27 points.
It marked the fifth time in nine playoff wins this postseason that the Thunder scored at least 27 points off turnovers.
One of the biggest adjustments came from head coach Mark Daigneault increasing the role of center Isaiah Hartenstein after he played just 12 minutes in Game One.
Hartenstein responded with 10 points, 13 rebounds and rugged, and somehwhat illegal, defense against Victor Wembanyama.
“That’s kind of my game, just being physical,” Hartenstein said. “I think last game they were more physical than us, and so I just wanted to establish that earlier. [Wembanyama is] a great player. He’s going to get to certain things, but you just have to make it as hard as possible.”
After the game on TV, SGA was asked about Hartenstein’s defense on Wemby and he said, “I don’t think it was good.”
He then tried to back track by saying it was “good”, but he couldn’t avoid the awkwardness of throwing his teammate under the bus.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander DISSING Isaiah Hartenstein’s defense on Wemby on national TV then backtracking 😬😳
(via NBA) pic.twitter.com/srIgbh9Viv
— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) May 21, 2026
Wembanyama still finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds, but Oklahoma City limited his dominance inside after he erupted for 41 points in the series opener.