NBA Matchups: May 28

Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs

Team Totals: Thunder 108.5, Spurs 111

Injury Report: Ajay Mitchell (O, calf), Jalen Williams (Q, hamstring)

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

Thunder projected starters: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jared McCain, Lu Dort, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein

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

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

Mitch quotes: Said they didn’t put themselves in a good position overall (positioning on defense), said Wemby has to take more than 15 shots and he has to score more than 20, said they had to be better when OKC is in the bonus.

Daigneault quotes: Said they obviously played a lot better and they applied the lessons they learned from Game 4, said he wanted to get a different look with McCain to start and he had some moxie later in the game, said they were first to the fight and he liked how they approached the game, said Chet was great and sometimes guys just struggle in spots, said they have been problem solving without key players all year, said they are just trying to find the right combos with the guys they have, said Cason “is a man” and he’s had unbelievable makeup.

Stats and notes:

*This series has been all over the place, and so many trends just end the next game. The big one that ended in Game 5 was the Victor Wembanyama domination, as he had his first negative +/- in a game during this series (he had a -7 in the game he was hurt vs. POR, -1 in the game he was ejected). The Spurs just looked a bit tired, and all of the foul calling took them out of their rhythm. San Antonio hasn’t been able to score too much in this series and hasn’t hit a 50th-percentile halfcourt offensive game in any of the five. That includes the last two, where they were at just 82.6 and 80.0 points per 100. The Spurs are still getting some fast-break output, and that kept them in it until late. They were also cold from deep at 29.3%, and they had a whopping 38 C&S attempts (averaged 26 in previous postseason games). The problem was that they made just 28.9% of them. OKC’s halfcourt offense has been fantastic in three of the last four, excluding their worst offensive output in the halfcourt in Game 4. It’s tough to predict what version of the Spurs we’ll get, and we’ll see how they respond to the pressure at home.

*Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had what he called the worst first quarter of his career. It was the first time he’s turned the ball over three times in the postseason (four instances in the regular season), and he shot 1-of-5 from the field in the first, too. SGA looked pretty gassed early, and it may have had something to do with all of the pressure on him. The Spurs weren’t really trapping him until it was very late and the game was basically over, and it’s a credit to Stephon Castle’s effort. SGA still scored 32 because he was bailed out by FTAs for the most he’s had in this series (17; previous high was 12). SGA still had a great role with 23 drives and 14 points on those. It’s just so much tougher against this excellent defense. He may not be 100%, but OKC may just need an epic game.