Chris Mannix: Thunder’s Biggest Advantage Over the Spurs Isn’t Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

OKLAHOMA CITY — The buzzer to end the first quarter sounded and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shuffled toward the Thunder huddle, frustration painted across his face. Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, a surging San Antonio team in front of him and Gilgeous-Alexander could not have started it any worse: 1 of 5 from the floor, three turnovers. “If it was five mes out there,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, “we would have been down 20.” Two days after one of the worst losses in Oklahoma City’s playoff history and suddenly its two-time MVP was malfunctioning.

The Thunder are more than Gilgeous-Alexander, as he often points out. And on Tuesday, they proved it. Chet Holmgren had eight first-quarter points. Cason Wallace popped off the bench to chip in with four. In the second quarter, Alex Caruso ripped off 11. That’s when Gilgeous-Alexander got going. He scored 12 points in seven second-quarter minutes, propelling Oklahoma City to a lead it wouldn’t give up in a 127–114 win over the Spurs.

“I might have had the worst start to a basketball game in my career,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with 32 points. “But the group held it down.”

A year ago Oklahoma City appeared to birth a dynasty, ready to rip off a Warriors-like run of championships. That era has been threatened by these young Spurs, led by Victor Wembanyama, backstopped by Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, poised far beyond their years. They pasted the Thunder in Game 4, and to a man believe they have the better team.

Perhaps. The edge Oklahoma City has is experience, something only a championship-winning run can deliver. The Thunder quickly flushed their Game 4 drubbing. They made some changes, plugging Jared McCain into the starting lineup for Wallace. More than anything, said Gilgeous-Alexander, “We just learned from our mistakes.”

“A series, especially against a good team, is a chess match,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “You go back and forth with adjustments and game plans and switching to things and trying new things. And I think they obviously punched us really good in Game 4. We got better.”

Indeed. Just before the start of the morning shootaround Thunder coach Mark Daigneault told Wallace: We need to bring you off the bench. Wallace had been Daigneault’s choice to start in Jalen Williams’s absence, but in this series Oklahoma City needed more of an offensive punch. “He doesn’t bat an eye,” said Daigneault. Wallace played 31 minutes, finishing a team-high +29.

Spurs forward Carter Bryant drives against Thunder guard Cason Wallace during Game 5. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

A level of trust comes with that experience. The Thunder’s 64 wins didn’t come easy this season. They lost 391 man games to injury this season, the third most in the NBA. Down Williams and Ajay Mitchell, many teams would fold. In Oklahoma City, said Gilgeous-Alexander, “It’s next man up.”

“I think the reps of having guys in and out the lineup and dealing with all the injuries really has paid off tonight. Especially in this series,” said Gilgeous-Alexander.

Holmgren has struggled in the conference finals, with the physicality on the court, with the inevitable comparisons to Wembanyama off it. But he started strong on Tuesday, finishing with his first double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) of the series. “He was on the gas early,” said Daigneault. Inside the Thunder locker room there were no doubts about Holmgren, just an eagerness to see him get going.

“I don’t ever worry about Chet, just because I know how much he loves the game, how much he cares and how much he works,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “He’ll figure it out no matter what it looks like. He’ll get to it. And I’d bet on Chet 10 times out of 10 and he proved why I would bet on him tonight.”

And the Thunder will keep betting on Gilgeous-Alexander. The world is ready to crown Wembanyama as the NBA’s best player, but in Oklahoma City to be the man, you have to beat him. There were no rah-rah speeches from Gilgeous-Alexander before the game. “No extra conversations,” he said. Just the same, even-keeled approach that has steered the Thunder all season. Consistency, says Daigneault, is Gilgeous-Alexander’s superpower.

“One of the things that I always marvel at with him is his ability to course correct inside of a game,” said Daigneault. “He usually doesn’t go a full game struggling like that. He obviously didn’t have his fastball early, but he stays so present. His confidence never wavers. He really has great trust in himself and that was on display tonight.”

It’s 3–2 now, and make no mistake: Oklahoma City knows what is coming. Many of San Antonio’s wounds on Tuesday were self-inflicted. Harper was a disaster, Devin Vassell couldn’t make a shot and Wembanyama had his most inefficient game of the playoffs. For the first time there was fear in the eyes of these young Spurs. The Thunder know they can’t count on that again.

And they won’t. As quickly as they discarded the Game 4 loss, the Thunder will toss this win away. There is a new game with new challenges awaiting. “Tonight was a blank canvas and a new day,” said Daigneault. “Just like Game 6 will be a blank canvas on a new day.” The approach that delivered a championship last season, earned them the NBA’s best record in this one will always be the same. Gilgeous-Alexander is the star but Oklahoma City has a locker room full of guys who can deliver.

“I know wholeheartedly everyone’s intention on the basketball team is to win the game,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “No other agendas. Nobody cares about anything else besides winning. And everybody works their tail off to get to that and be the best version of themselves doing so. That’s all you can ask from a teammate. Nothing else you can ask for, work hard and give it your all to try to go out there and win.”

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