NBA Matchups: May 22

Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs

Team Totals: Thunder 108, Spurs 109.5

Injury Report: Jalen Williams (Q, hamstring), De’Aaron Fox (Q, ankle), Dylan Harper (Q, groin)

Spurs projected starters: De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, Victor Wembanyama

Thunder projected starters: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Lu Dort, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein (Note: Cason Wallace started 2H last game; could be him over Ajay Mitchell)

Offensive Ranks: Spurs 3rd (4th halfcourt), Thunder 6th (3rd halfcourt)

Defensive Ranks: Spurs 3rd (4th halfcourt), Thunder 1st (1st halfcourt)

Season Series: 4-1 Spurs (+26)

Noteworthy Missed Games: Devin Vassell (1), Dylan Harper (1), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1), Ajay Mitchell (3), Jalen Williams (1), Chet Holmgren (1), Lu Dort (2), Isaiah Hartenstein (2)

Mitch quotes: Said Harper had “an awkward landing” and he just found out that he couldn’t come back, said it was tough for them to handle the ball without Harper and Fox, said Fox “is just trying to play” and he would be out in the regular season, said Castle turning it over has been addressed and they need to find the open man, said Castle is a warrior and he’s “a hell of a passer and a hell of a creator,” said McLaughlin was ready and was great for them in Game 2. 

Daigneault quotes: Said their offense was a lot better because they played better, said Hartenstein on Wemby was because Wemby had way too much at the rim and “it doesn’t feel good playing Hart 12 minutes,” said J-Dub going out was part of why iHart was pushed up, said he could’ve went to Kenrich but didn’t want to do it “cold,” said SGA has “unbelievable focus” and he’s not afraid to fail, said Caruso “played a great floor game,” said Hartenstein “played his game tonight” and he showed great professionalism after just 12 minutes, said he told Hartenstein on Tuesday night that he was going to start on Wemby and he could sleep on it.

Stats and notes:

*The story of this game will be injuries. De’Aaron Fox is going to be a game-time decision again, and he’s likely going to be a little limited. Jalen Williams seems like he might miss the series, and Dylan Harper might be out as well. Ajay Mitchell also took some contact to his thigh, but he said he’ll be OK. Besides the injuries, the big story was Isaiah Hartenstein having a massive impact on Victor Wembanyama. The other big story was OKC crushing on turnovers, 21-10, with a 27-10 advantage on points off turnovers. The refs really let them play again, even with a foul-heavier crew in Game 2. The Spurs barely won the rebounding battle with just 51.1% on rebounding (58.8% in Game 1), and San Antonio also didn’t crush in the paint at 46-42 this time (52-38 in Game 1). The Thunder were able to solve a lot of the zone stuff that the Spurs had success with in Game 1. OKC more than doubled their ORB% in the halfcourt, which was largely due to Isaiah Hartenstein (more on him in a bit). OKC also had more success in transition, and their halfcourt offense was on par with what they were doing before the Game 1 loss. The Spurs were a little better on offense besides all those turnovers, and they were efficient on their putback chances from Wemby.