Thunder climb out of early hole to beat Spurs thanks to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s big night, bench

SAN ANTONIO — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points and 12 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder climbed out of a 15-point hole minutes into the game to beat the San Antonio Spurs 123-108 on Friday night and take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Jared McCain had 24 points and Jaylin Williams added 18 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder were without Jalen Williams, who sat out with left hamstring soreness.

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Oklahoma City’s bench outscored San Antonio’s 76-23, including 15 points by Alex Caruso.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 26 points, drives past Carter Bryant during the third quarter of the Thunders’ 123-108 Game 3 win over the Spurs on May 22, 2026 in San Antonio. Getty Images

“We just went out there and competed,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They obviously jumped on us early. First game in their building, their crowd behind them, they were excited to play. We just wanted to make sure we competed from that point on. We obviously didn’t give our best effort to start that game, but can’t do nothing about it. It’s behind us. All we can do is focus on the next possession, and we did that.”

Victor Wembanyama had 24 points for San Antonio. Devin Vassell added 20 and De’Aaron Fox had 15 in his series debut.

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The Thunder have won two straight after the Spurs’ double-overtime victory in Game 1. Game 4 is Sunday.

Fox (sprained right ankle) and Dylan Harper (right adductor soreness) were cleared to play 45 minutes prior to tipoff.

Fox’s return sparked a historic start.

The Spurs raced to a 15-0 lead, the longest run to open a game in the conference finals since the play-by-play era began in 1997.

Jared McCain goes up for a shot during the Thunder’s Game 3
win over the Spurs. NBAE via Getty Images

Fox opened the run by wrapping in a driving layup and Wembanyama followed by crossing over Isaiah Hartenstein to drill a 3-pointer. Vassell’s 3-pointer put the Spurs up 10-0, leading to an early timeout by Thunder coach Mark Daigneault.

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“Other than the first 15 points, our defense was really tight,” Daigneault said. “We got back, settled down into the…

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Publish date : 2026-05-23 05:57:00

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