Thunder take 2-1 Western Conference finals lead with 123-108 Game 3 win over Spurs

Oklahoma City flipped Game 3 with its bench, not its starting group. The Thunder trailed 15-0 less than three minutes into Friday night’s Western Conference finals game in San Antonio before coach Mark Daigneault went to his reserves, and Oklahoma City closed with a 123-108 win and a 2-1 series lead. (nbcsports.com) ESPN reported the Thunder’s bench scored 76 points, the most by any team in a conference finals or NBA Finals game since starters were first tracked in 1971. (msn.com) That number explains most of the night. San Antonio won the opening burst, but Oklahoma City’s second unit changed the pace, erased the early hole and turned the game into a depth test the Spurs could not match. The bench-scoring margin was 76-23, according to ESPN’s game report. (okcthunderwire.usatoday.com) ### How did the game swing so fast after San Antonio’s 15-0 start? The first 2:37 belonged to San Antonio. The Spurs opened on a 15-0 run at Frost Bank Center and forced Daigneault to his bench almost immediately, according to ESPN and the Associated Press version carried by MSN and The Washington Post. That move changed the game. (msn.com) Oklahoma City’s reserves steadied the offense, cut into the lead and gave the Thunder enough scoring outside the starting lineup to control the rest of the night. By the final horn, the early deficit had turned into a 15-point Thunder win. ### Why does the 76-point bench total matter? (msn.com) ESPN said the 76 bench points were the most by any team in a conference-final or NBA Finals game since 1971, when starters were first tracked. That made the performance notable beyond this series and placed Oklahoma City’s second unit in a category no team had reached in the league’s final four rounds for more than five decades. (msn.com) The raw gap was just as telling. Oklahoma City’s bench outscored San Antonio’s 76-23, a margin large enough to define the game on its own. ### Who carried the scoring load for Oklahoma City? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 26 points and 12 assists, according to Thunder Wire’s recap of the game. (msn.com) That line gave Oklahoma City its usual production from the lead guard while the bench supplied the unusual part of the box score. Several Thunder reserves posted playoff career highs, according to Yardbarker’s roundup of the game. The broader point from the stat line was balance: Oklahoma City did not need one rescue performance from a starter because multiple bench players turned the game. (msn.com) ### What does this leave San Antonio needing in Game 4? San Antonio now trails 2-1 after splitting the first two games and dropping the first home game of the series. The Spurs still showed their ability to pressure Oklahoma City early, but they could not sustain that edge once the Thunder’s rotation expanded. (okcthunderwire.usatoday.com) Victor Wembanyama remained central to the Spurs’ attack and the series has still produced close stretches, but Game 3 shifted the immediate pressure onto San Antonio because another home loss would put Oklahoma City one win from the NBA Finals. ### When is the next game? (yardbarker.com) Game 4 is scheduled for May 25 in San Antonio. Oklahoma City enters that game with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals. (okcthunderwire.usatoday.com) (basketball-reference.com) (nbcsports.com)