Thunder Go Big, Beat Spurs to Tie Western Conference Finals at 1-1
After Victor Wembanyama and his San Antonio Spurs dominated the paint in a 122-115 overtime victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in game one of the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder faced a must-win situation in game two. In game one, Wembanyama led both teams in points (41), rebounds (24), and blocked shots (three) as the Spurs outscored the Thunder 52-38 in the paint and outrebounded the Thunder 61-40; the Thunder went small in game one, with starting center Isaiah Hartenstein playing just 12 minutes after averaging 24.2 mpg during the regular season as he led the squad in rebounding (9.4 rpg) for the second consecutive year.
Hartenstein played 27 minutes in game two and led the Thunder with 13 rebounds as the Thunder won 122-113. Hartenstein's bump and run defense on Wembanyama resulted in the young phenom having 21 points, a game-high 17 rebounds, six assists, and a game-high four blocked shots; those are excellent numbers for most players, but those are also numbers that the Thunder can live with from Wembanyama. The Spurs won the rebounding battle again, but only by four (45-41), and the Spurs also only led by four in points in the paint (46-42); the Thunder won the overall possession battle by forcing 21 turnovers while committing just nine turnovers, with the net result being that the Thunder launched 94 field goal attempts while limiting the Spurs to 84. The team field goal percentages were close (.488 for the Spurs, .479 for the Thunder), so the Thunder's extra possessions made a huge difference.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 24 points on 7-23 field goal shooting in game one, led both teams with 30 points and nine assists in game two while shooting 12-24 from the field. Alex Caruso, who erupted for a playoff career-high 31 points in game one, had 17 points in game two. Chet Holmgren added 13 points, while Jared McCain and Cason Wallace had 12 points each to help the Thunder overcome the loss of 2025 All-Star Jalen Williams, who played just seven minutes before leaving the game after reinjuring the left hamstring that caused him to miss six of the Thunder's 10 playoff games this year.
Stephon Castle led the Spurs in scoring (25 points) and assists (eight) but he had a game-high nine turnovers after committing 11 turnovers in game one. He set the record for most turnovers in consecutive playoff games since the NBA began officially tracking turnovers during the 1977-78 season. Castle has been forced into the primary ballhandling role because De'Aaron Fox missed both games due to a right ankle sprain. The Spurs' elite backcourt had another setback in the third quarter when Dylan Harper suffered a right leg injury that forced him to miss the rest of the game.
The injuries to key players on both teams could affect the outcome of the series, but the Thunder are probably better positioned than the Spurs to withstand injuries not only because the Thunder have more depth and more playoff experience but also because they posted the best regular season record despite Williams playing in just 33 out of 82 games: the Thunder have been forced to learn how to win without their second best player.
Commentators who declared the series to be over after game one apparently could not comprehend the simple fact that the Spurs needed overtime to beat the Thunder with the Thunder playing beneath their normal level and with Wembanyama putting up boxscore numbers not seen in the playoffs since Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O'Neal were in their prime years; unless one assumed that Wembanyama would average 40-20 while the Thunder shot less than .410 from the field it should have been obvious that the Thunder would bounce back strongly in game two, particularly if the Thunder had enough sense to stop trotting out small lineups.
It is worth noting that during last year's championship run the Thunder lost game one in two of their four playoff series. In the 2025 NBA Finals, the Indiana Pacers won game one and took a 2-1 lead over the Thunder after Thunder coach Mark Daigenault made the mistake of going small in the first three games, benching center Isaiah Hartenstein in favor of Cason Wallace. Daigenault started Hartenstein over Wallace in the Thunder's 111-104 game four win, and kept Hartenstein in the starting lineup the rest of the way en route to the Thunder winning the series, 4-3; the Thunder went 3-1 with their traditional double big man lineup, and they went 1-2 with their small lineup.
Going small is a move that many media members often advocate, but the reality is that in most instances a team should go with what they do best as opposed to going small; the two obvious exceptions are (1) when the small lineup is the team's best lineup and (2) when the team is clearly inferior to the extent that any change or disruption is worth a shot. Here, it is odd that Daigneault not only went small for no reason during the 2025 NBA Finals but then made the same mistake in game one versus the Spurs. The Thunder were better than the 2025 Pacers and are better than the 2026 Spurs, and a big reason (pun intended) that the Thunder are better is the effectiveness of their double big lineup featuring Hartenstein and Holmgren. Those two big men protect the paint and provide timely inside presence offensively, enabling the three perimeter players to wreak havoc at both ends of the court. Downsizing hurts the Thunder defensively and on the boards.
By virtue of seizing homecourt advantage with the game one win, the Spurs have the edge on paper in the Western Conference Finals as the series shifts to San Antonio for the next two games, but the Thunder have the edge on the court if they manage the matchups correctly. Often, the best "adjustment" is to make no adjustment at all--and in this series the Thunder would be best served by not outsmarting themselves with small lineups or any other gimmicks.
Labels: Isaiah Hartenstein, Oklahama City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Stephon Castle, Victor Wembanyama
posted by David Friedman @ 9:42 AM
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