The Western Conference Finals are at a stalemate thanks to chronic turnovers by the San Antonio Spurs. On top of that, Chet Holmgren finally showed up to the series, and OKC’s bench scored an abundance of relief points, which included Alex Caruso shooting like prime Klay Thompson. The series will now shift to San Antonio.
The Spurs never fell into a big crater (only 13 points), yet that deficit might as well be twice that with how desperate and physical the Thunder were playing. Victor Wembanyama
was not the leading scorer this time (21 points, 17 rebounds, six assists) but his rim protection had opposing players seeing ghosts, rushing shots and trying to sell calls. But despite valiant efforts and multiple moments in which the deficit was cut to one possession, there wasn’t enough enough disruption at the arc, and the offense wasn’t flowing the same after Dylan Harper left with a leg injury in the third quarter.
Observations
- There was no slow build up as the first quarter had a combined 62 points scored and 13 lead changes.
- The difference in the game was one side having a slight edge at key moments in 1. showing and recovering on screen rolls, 2. trapping the ball, and 3. limiting transition scoring. Additionally, OKC was able to force enough stops, even with the Spurs roaring back, without Jalen Williams, who only played seven minutes because he re-aggravated his hamstring injury.
- OKC started two bigs again, and tried to get physical with Wemby, but it only resulted in two fouls in fewer than four minutes for Isaiah Hartenstein. It didn’t limit his defensive aggression because he was holding when the refs weren’t looking (?), which even drew the attention of the broadcast. Wemby subsequently went back at him early in the second half, forcing his fourth foul and putting him on the bench, which gave the Spurs a size advantage.
- Devin Vassell got most of the minutes on defense against Chet Holmgren in the opener. He was a pest once more as the team’s third-best player. He made 85.7 percent of his shots in the second half.
- Dylan Harper started again for De’Aaron Fox (ankle), and was a big factor pressuring the ball and organizing the offense. He plays more in control than Castle, granted with a lower usage. One would have suggested making him the primary ball handler while Fox remains out, but now his status is in question after getting tangled up when chasing a rebound.
- It was an embarrassing performance in Game 1 for Shai Gilgeous Alexander by his standards, so naturally, he was more accurate, and did a better job of getting free on the dribble. He finished with 30 points on 50 percent shooting, with nine assists and four rebounds.
- A good chunk of Castle’s turnovers are passes and drives into traffic. Yet the last one late in the fourth after macho man Keldon Johnson recovered the biggest offensive rebound of the game, was one of the last nails in the coffin. The turnovers would be more magnified if he wasn’t playing on such a great team, and maybe he’d be catching heat like James Harden.
- The team’s substitution patterns for Wemby were part of the reason OKC went ahead by double figures in the first half, aside from turnovers causing them to take five fewer shots. It’s understandable to want to preserve Wembanyama, but trust this: healthy, great players can log big playoff minutes. Think about how he didn’t even look gassed after 49 minutes in Game 1. He did that because he’s a world-class athlete who can put his foot on the gas and keep it there at any time, for a long time.
