After winning Game 5, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder need just one win to advance to the finals.
Published May 27, 2026
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 on Tuesday, moving one win away from a return to the NBA Finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder punished San Antonio’s error-strewn performance with the victory, moving the reigning NBA champions to 3-2 with two games remaining in the Western Conference Finals.
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San Antonio had a strong showing on Sunday to tie the series at 2-2, but a lackluster Game 5 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City didn’t add up.
The Spurs’ Victor Wembaneyama had a disastrous shooting night, scoring 20 points but making only 4 of 15 field goal attempts and grabbing only 6 rebounds.
Spurs forward Devin Vassell also had a night to remember, scoring just six points on 2-of-11 shooting after averaging 17 points in the first four games of the series.
Oklahoma City will face San Antonio in Game 6 on Thursday with a typically clinical performance, bouncing back from a slow start and a chance to win the series with a well-deserved win.
Gilgeous-Alexander was one of five Thunder players to score in double figures, with Alex Caruso scoring 22 points off the bench, including four 3-pointers, and Jared McCain scoring 20 points.
Chet Holmgren had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Isaiah Hartenstein had 12 points and 15 rebounds.
“It was probably the worst start of my career in a basketball game, but our group kept us in check,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of the Thunder’s slow first quarter, which saw San Antonio jump out to an early eight-point lead.
“Somehow we won in the first quarter and it was because of the guys in the locker room.
“I’ve said that all year. We’re a No. 1-15 group and we wouldn’t have gone this deep into the season without everyone on our team, and we proved that tonight,” the two-time NBA MVP added.
“We made adjustments after the last game and applied what we learned.
“When you play a really good team, you have to try to get better every game. We definitely got better from the last game.”
“We need to be better.”
After falling behind, Oklahoma City helped Gilgeous-Alexander score 12 points in a 40-point second quarter to give the champions a comfortable lead that would ultimately prove decisive.
The Thunder led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, and while San Antonio cut the lead to eight late in the quarter, Oklahoma City recovered and regained the lead.
San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson bemoaned his team’s mistakes throughout the game and called on Wenbanyama to take a more aggressive approach in Thursday’s must-win Game 6.
“I felt like it was a little bit of everything in that we just couldn’t put ourselves in a position to be successful on each possession,” Johnson said.
“To beat a team of this caliber in our own building at our stake, we need to get better to give ourselves a chance.”
Coach Johnson said San Antonio needs Wenbanyama’s offensive ability to improve to keep the series alive.
“He’s going to have to take more than 15 shots and he’s definitely going to have to score more than 20 points,” Johnson said.
“He’s definitely going to have to take more shots, but there were a lot of things here and there and we had an advantage and we just didn’t make the simple plays to take advantage of it,” he added.
