Oklahoma City — Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals concluded on Tuesday, the 26th. The Thunder won at the end of regulation, 127 to the Spurs’ 114.
Shai dropped 32 points on 7-19 from the field, 16-17 free throws, 2 rebounds, 9 assists, and 1 block to lead the victory. It wasn’t only him who had a big night. Caruso, coming off the bench, scored 22 points on 50% from the field. McCain, who started this game, was slow but found his shot in the second half to end the game with 20 on 7-19 shooting.
Both teams struggled in the first half were not getting their buckets to fall from anywhere. But the Thunder found themselves in that second half and ran away with it till the end.
Takeaways
Thunder: A better performance from these Thunder players. The bench found its form again, with Caruso scoring 22 points. He has also made a difference in this series, with him being +42 on and -35 off with defensive distribution. Kenrich Williams had another good game. He hit some big shots, finishing with 8 points, and went perfect from the field.
Shai in the first quarter couldn’t find his shot, only scoring 7 points, being 1-5 from the field, and 4-4 from free throws. After that quiet first quarter, he found his footing, ending the half with 19 points. The Spurs didn’t double-team him as they did in Game 4, but instead went back to when he got past the arc, he would be hit with a trap. That trap worked on Shai for the first half, ending with 5 turnovers, but in the second half found ways around it, ending the game with 6 turnovers.
Chet Holmgren came out in the first half with a hot start, looking fearless when attacking the paint, even when Wemby was on the floor. He ended the first half with 12 points, and the second half went back to being quiet offensively for the rest. He was getting his rebound with 12 overall, with 3 being offensive rebounds.
Isaiah Hartenstein had a bounce-back game similar to the game he had in Game 2 with rebounds. He finished the game with 15 total rebounds, and 6 of those were offensive rebounds. He came up big again with boxing out both bigs to get those boards. His shots continued to fall, ending the game with 12 points, being 6-8 from the field.
Jared McCain, who got the starting nod for this game, didn’t look sharp in the first half. It didn’t look pretty in the first half with 2 points, but he came out in the second half, finding his rhythm, ending with 20 points.
Thunder defense found ways to disrupt the Spurs’ shooting by making them take highly contested shots. They also got caught in the cookie jar, committing 22 fouls. Offensively, both teams came out sloppy; the Thunder couldn’t protect the ball, ending the game with 17 turnovers.
Spurs: The Spurs, who last game held the Thunder to 82 total points, struggled on both sides of the ball. The Spurs had a team defensive rating of 126.4, and offensively, they struggled to knock down their shots, going 40% from the field, 29% from three, and shot 28-32 from the free-throw line.
This has been the worst Wemby has looked in any of these playoffs this season. He was ineffective from the field; he couldn’t find his rhythm on both sides. Even though he ended the game with 20 points, he was 4-15 from the field with most of his points coming from the free throw line, being a perfect 12-12. He couldn’t get a board, ending up with 6 total rebounds. He was out-muscled by Chet and Hartenstein on the glass. Just a terrible game by him, and he wasn’t the only one letting his team down.
Fox, Vassell, and Harper were liabilities during the game. All three of them combined for a total of 20 points. Fox shot a total of 26.7% and had a defensive rating of 124. Vassell, who has looked good in the last two games, only had 6 on 18.2% and a defensive rating of 126. Harper, who had 5 points, shot 20% and had a defensive rating of 134.
Stephon Castle, Julian Champagnie, and Keldon Johnson were the only Spurs players to shoot above 50% from the field. Castle had 24 points but found himself in foul trouble again, as he has during this series. Champagnie was hot to start the first half of this game, having 17 points on 54% shooting, but was silent in the second half, only scoring 5 points on 50% shooting. Keldon Johnson had a solid night with 15 points, but also found himself in foul trouble to end the game; both he and Castle had 5 fouls.
Looking ahead to Game 6
Thunder: The Thunder in Game 6 needs to make adjustments still because the Spurs aren’t going to play as they did in the last game. Wemby specifically will not be cold on both sides of the ball. The Spurs should go back to how they guarded Shai back in Game 4. Unless Ajay or Jalen Williams comes back and plays in Game 6, then they should be fine, since those two are threats with the ball in their hands.
Shai has to come out hot in this game. He was off when shooting the ball; he would drive to the basket to score, and the ball would rim out or flat out go off the backboard. But if the Thunder could get that second-half Shai performance or Shai punishing the physical defense of the Spurs, he will certainly find his confidence in shooting and driving abilities.
Chet Holmgren needs a repeat performance in this game as he had in Game 5. Instead of losing that fire in the second half, he needs to continue his aggressiveness on the offensive side of the ball. He needs to continue to box out his defenders to get and protect rebounds. The same goes for Haertenstein; if both those players are on like they were last game, then the Spurs don’t have an answer to them outside of Wemby.
If Jalen Williams or Ajay Mitchell aren’t available to go in this game, then start Jared McCain. But if he goes cold again, then switch him out with Caruso, who has been the best player for the Thunder in this series. Because of how deep this bench is and how good Caruso has been, you have to feel confident about how consistent this bench has been this far outside of Game 4.
The Thunder need to protect the ball, something that they’ve done well throughout the regular season and playoffs. Averaging 12.9 turnovers in these playoffs and 12.6 in the regular season. They can’t play sloppy again, even though they won. Defensively, they need to continue to protect the rim from Wemby and force highly contested shots. Bring another defender to help out whoever is guarding Wemby. Caruso has been great at guarding Wemby this series.
Spurs: It all starts with Wemby. If Wemby is off like he was in Game 5, they will lose this series. The same goes for everyone else on this Spurs team.
Wemby will have to come out and make a statement as he did in Game 1. He can’t be shooting like he did, where he couldn’t find his shot from anywhere on the floor. If he is knocking down his shots, he will also need to punish the Thunder’s physical defense. He also can’t let Chet Holmgren outmuscle him on some drives to the basket. He’s going to have to drop forty again for them to win.
Harper and Fox will need to perform. Fox especially will need to perform. He’s supposed to be the second option player next to Wemby, and he hasn’t been since getting injured. When Wemby is driving, he needs to find ways to get open because he can knock down his outside shot. Harper needs to play better. I know he’s a rookie and also dealing with an injury, but if become a spot-up shooter, it will lift a weight off of Castle and Wemby’s shoulders.
Castle has clearly been the second option throughout these playoffs, but in this series, he hasn’t looked like one in this series. He’s been overaggressive when guarding Shai and most likely should have fouled out of some of these games, but he’s lucky he hasn’t. He found out how to protect the ball and looked better over the course of the series. He just needs to control how physical he is when guarding Shai.
The Spurs have to go back to the way they guarded Shai as they did in Game 4 by letting him beat them, but no one else. Because, as we saw in Game 4, these bench players can have an off night, especially when you aren’t trapping or double-teaming Shai. Offensively, if Champagnie, Keldon, and Castle can repeat what they did in Game 5, the Spurs will come out with the victory.
Prediction
The San Antonio Spurs are looking to bounce back from last game’s loss to the Thunder and tie up the series and force a Game 7. But can they? The Thunder look to take the Spurs down in 6 and not have to play in a Game 7.
I believe that the Spurs will come out into this game looking dangerous and have to lead going into halftime. But it will be back and forth scoring wise but Wemby will hit a game-winning bucket to force a game seven. The final score will be Spurs 116, Thunder 114. With Wemby dropping another 40-point game with 19 rebounds and 7 blocks.
Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals is back in San Antonio, Texas, at the Frost Bank Center. You can watch Game 6 on NBC/Peacock at 7:30 pm CT.
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