Thunder top Spurs 127-114 in Game
5, move a win away from a return to NBA Finals
[May 27, 2026]
By TIM REYNOLDS
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points, Alex Caruso led another
strong bench effort with 22 and the Oklahoma City Thunder moved one
win away from a return trip to the NBA Finals by beating the San
Antonio Spurs 127-114 on Tuesday night.
Jared McCain getting the call with Jalen Williams and Ajay
Mitchell both sidelined scored 20 in his first playoff start for
the defending NBA champion Thunder, who lead the Western Conference
finals 3-2.
Chet Holmgren had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, while
Isaiah Hartenstein had a 12-point, 15-rebound night in Oklahoma
City.
The Thunder, who were held to 82 points in a Game 4 loss two days
earlier, had 82 points on Tuesday before the third quarter was 3 1/2
minutes old.
We obviously played a lot better, in terms of our process and then
also the outcome, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. It's a
playoff series. If you look at any playoff series that goes to six
games, at least, there's going to be some tough games. We had a
tough game the other night. This team does a great job of just
coming back in the next day in a very neutral way, taking whatever
the lessons are, applying them forward and getting into the next
opportunity.
Stephon Castle scored 24 points for San Antonio, which got 22 points
from Julian Champagnie and 20 points from Victor Wembanyama who
was held to 4-of-15 shooting.
Keldon Johnson scored 15 off the bench for San Antonio, which missed
29 of its 41 3-point tries.
It just felt like it was a little bit of everything in terms of we
did not put ourselves in position enough to be successful on each
possession, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. And so, to beat a team
of this caliber, in their building, with the stakes, we'll need to
be a lot better to give yourself a chance.
Game 6 is Thursday in San Antonio. If there's a Game 7, it'll be
back in Oklahoma City on Saturday and while this series winds
down, the New York Knicks are waiting to see who emerges.
The Knicks will visit either the Thunder or Spurs in Game 1 of the
NBA Finals on June 3.
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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) celebrates his
three-point basket against the San Antonio Spurs in the second half
of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs
series, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio
Cortez)
Oklahoma City scored 40 points in the second
quarter to take control and kept the lead the rest of the way.
We just played to who we were tonight, Gilgeous-Alexander said.
It took nearly 10 minutes for the first free throws to be awarded.
But when the parade to the foul line started, it didn't stop.
The teams combined to make 29 free throws in the
second quarter alone, the most in the second quarter of any NBA game
since the bubble playoffs nearly six years ago. It wasn't a
one-sided thing the Spurs were 15 for 17 in the quarter, the
Thunder 14 for 14.
Oklahoma City went up by 20 in the third, before San Antonio closed
within eight. The Spurs might have had some chances to cut even
further into the deficit, but were fuming and rightly so, it
seemed over some missed calls in the final minute of the quarter.
A tip-in try by San Antonio's Luke Kornet with about 56 seconds left
was knocked off the rim by Oklahoma City's Cason Wallace and should
have been goaltending. And on the next Spurs' possession, an
out-of-bounds call that should have gone their way replays showed
the ball went out off of Holmgren did not. Johnson tried to
challenge the call, got ignored, then got a technical foul for
arguing.
They just said they didn't see me, Johnson said.
After all that, Oklahoma City's lead was 101-91 going into the
fourth. The Thunder kept a double-digit lead for all but 25 seconds
of the final quarter a huge turnaround from a 21-point loss in San
Antonio on Sunday.
We definitely got better from the last game, Gilgeous-Alexander
said.
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