Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) celebrates with guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) after a 3-pointer through the first half of Game 2 within the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
OKLAHOMA CITY — The MVP looked just like the MVP again, and the NBA Western Conference finals are twisted up.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bounced back from a subpar series opener to attain 30 points, Alex Caruso added 17 off the bench and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 122-113 on Wednesday night in Game 2.
Chet Holmgren scored 13 points and reserves Jared McCain and Cason Wallace each had 12 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder finished with a 57-25 edge in bench scoring, plus a 27-10 edge in points off turnovers.
Stephon Castle scored 25 points for the Spurs, who got 22 points from Devin Vassell and a 21-point, 17-rebound, six-assist, four-block night from Victor Wembanyama.
Game 3 is Friday in San Antonio.
“The blokes brought it tonight. Knowing what it will have meant if we lost this one, we brought the energy from the jump,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, right, and guard Dylan Harper (2) defend against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) through the first half of Game 2 within the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Isaiah Hartenstein — who barely played in Game 1 — had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder, who improved to 14-5 after a loss this season — and beat the Spurs for just the second time in seven meetings.
The win was not without cost for the Thunder, who lost guard Jalen Williams — who had already missed six games in these playoffs with a left hamstring strain — in the primary half with a reoccurrence of the hamstring issue. The Thunder said it was tightness, but even that may figure to place his availability for Friday into doubt.
And the Spurs got banged up as well. Already without All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox due to ankle soreness, San Antonio lost his substitute within the starting lineup — Dylan Harper — to a right leg injury after he took a few awkward falls within the third quarter.
San Antonio was down by 11 on the half and trailed by eight going into the fourth quarter, then got inside 99-97 off a corner 3-pointer by Harrison Barnes with 9:06 left.
The subsequent 2 1/2 minutes saved the Thunder. An 11-0 run by the defending champions — including a banked-in 3-pointer by Jared McCain midway through the burst — pushed OKC’s result in 13.
However the Spurs were removed from done. Wembanyama scored down low to make it 118-113 with 1:25 remaining, but Gilgeous-Alexander got one last basket to settle things down and send the series to San Antonio tied.