Gilgeous-Alexander, bench propel Thunder past Spurs 123-108 for 2-1 series lead

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

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 before 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.

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

“Other than the first 15 points, our defence was really tight,” Daigneault said. “We got back, settled down into the half court. Our offence had something to do with that. We ran good offence tonight, despite the fact that they were amped up and ready to go, the Spurs were. It’s a discipline series. We did that. We couldn’t be reckless against them, they are too good with the ball, too well coached, too talented. So you’ve got to be able to do it with discipline. I thought we really were disciplined tonight.”

Isaiah Hartenstein broke the drought with a runner over Wembanyama, but the centre was immediately greeted with thunderous boos after his physical play against the Spurs in Game 2.

The Thunder went on a 13-2 run when Wembanyama went to the bench and closed the first quarter trailing 31-26.

It was a pattern the Spurs could not overcome.

“It’s my first playoffs,” Wembanyama said. “It’s the first playoffs for many of us. Of course, there was going to be hard trials. It’s to be expected, but now we’re going to see what we’re made of.”

The series continued to be chippy with emotions boiling over early in the second half. Stephon Castle hit the court on back-to-back dunk attempts. The second resulted in a flagrant 1 foul against Ajay Mitchell and technical fouls on Mitchell and Vassell after the two exchanged words following the foul.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Canadian Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams extended Oklahoma City’s first lead to 35-31.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Raul Dominguez, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Gilgeous-Alexander, bench propel Thunder past Spurs 123-108 for 2-1 series lead

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