Thunder top Spurs 127-114 in Game 5, move a win away from a return to NBA Finals

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points, Alex Caruso led another strong bench effort with 22 and the Oklahoma City Thunder moved one win away from a return trip to the NBA Finals by beating the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 on Tuesday night.

Jared McCain — getting the call with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell both sidelined — scored 20 in his first playoff start for the defending NBA champion Thunder, who lead the Western Conference finals 3-2.

Chet Holmgren had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, while Isaiah Hartenstein had a 12-point, 15-rebound night in Oklahoma City.

The Thunder, who were held to 82 points in a Game 4 loss two days earlier, had 82 points on Tuesday before the third quarter was 3 1/2 minutes old.

“We obviously played a lot better, in terms of our process and then also the outcome,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It's a playoff series. If you look at any playoff series that goes to six games, at least, there's going to be some tough games. We had a tough game the other night. This team does a great job of just coming back in the next day in a very neutral way, taking whatever the lessons are, applying them forward and getting into the next opportunity.”

Stephon Castle scored 24 points for San Antonio, which got 22 points from Julian Champagnie and 20 points from Victor Wembanyama — who was held to 4-of-15 shooting.

Keldon Johnson scored 15 off the bench for San Antonio, which missed 29 of its 41 3-point tries.

“It just felt like it was a little bit of everything in terms of we did not put ourselves in position enough to be successful on each possession,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “And so, to beat a team of this caliber, in their building, with the stakes, we'll need to be a lot better to give yourself a chance.”

Game 6 is Thursday in San Antonio. If there's a Game 7, it'll be back in Oklahoma City on Saturday — and while this series winds down, the New York Knicks are waiting to see who emerges.

The Knicks will visit either the Thunder or Spurs in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 3.

Oklahoma City scored 40 points in the second quarter to take control and kept the lead the rest of the way.

“We just played to who we were tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

It took nearly 10 minutes for the first free throws to be awarded. But when the parade to the foul line started, it didn't stop.

The teams combined to make 29 free throws in the second quarter alone, the most in the second quarter of any NBA game since the bubble playoffs nearly six years ago. It wasn't a one-sided thing — the Spurs were 15 for 17 in the quarter, the Thunder 14 for 14.

Oklahoma City went up by 20 in the third, before San Antonio closed within eight. The Spurs might have had some chances to cut even further into the deficit, but were fuming — and rightly so, it seemed — over some missed calls in the final minute of the quarter.

A tip-in try by San Antonio's Luke Kornet with about 56 seconds left was knocked off the rim by Oklahoma City's Cason Wallace and should have been goaltending. And on the next Spurs' possession, an out-of-bounds call that should have gone their way — replays showed the ball went out off of Holmgren — did not. Johnson tried to challenge the call, got ignored, then got a technical foul for arguing.

“They just said they didn't see me,” Johnson said.

After all that, Oklahoma City's lead was 101-91 going into the fourth. The Thunder kept a double-digit lead for all but 25 seconds of the final quarter — a huge turnaround from a 21-point loss in San Antonio on Sunday.

“We definitely got better from the last game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

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

A Oklahoma City Thunder fan cheers in the first half of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson speaks to referee Tony Brothers in the second half of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Gerald Leong)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) goes to the basket aginst San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet (7) in the second half of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Gerald Leong)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) celebrates his three-point basket against the San Antonio Spurs in the second half of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) reacts to a foul in the second half of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the San Antonio Spurs, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mark Stone and Cole Smith scored for Vegas and the Golden Knights suffocated Colorado's high-powered offense to beat the Avalanche 2-1 on Tuesday night for an unthinkable sweep to make their third Stanley Cup Final in nine seasons.

The Golden Knights will get a break while they watch to see whether Carolina or Montreal emerges from the Eastern Conference Final.

This is a crushing end for an Avalanche team that won the Presidents' Trophy and had blown through the playoffs with an 8-1 record. Chicago in 2013 was the last team to claim the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season.

Stone scored for the Golden Knights on a lob pass from Brayden McNabb deep in his zone. Stone caught the puck and had a direct path to the net and made the most of it. Smith later tipped in Dylan Coghlan's shot from the point with 5:45 left for a critical two-goal margin.

Carter Hart stopped 20 shots, coming within 2:03 of his first playoff shutout in six years.

Gabriel Landeskog ended that shutout, one of the few highlights of the night for the Avalanche, who went the final 14:23 of the second period without a shot on goal and more than 22 minutes with just one shot.

Mackenzie Blackwood, making his first start in the series, gave the Avalanche a chance to win with several dazzling saves en route to 24 saves overall. His best stop came late in the second period when he lunged to glove a power-play shot from Pavel Dorofeyev.

The journey to the Cup Final isn't quite the Cinderella story of the Golden Knights’ first team that made the Stanley Cup Final in 2018 before losing in five games to Washington, but Vegas’ journey to this point was far from expected.

The Golden Knights faced the possibility of not making the playoffs for just the second time in franchise history when management fired coach Bruce Cassidy, who led the club to the 2023 title, with eight games left in the regular season.

In came John Tortorella, who validated the controversial decision by leading Vegas to a 7-0-1 record to close the regular season and then series victories over Utah and Anaheim. Then the Golden Knights faced an Avalanche team on a roll and without any sign of slowing down.

At least until facing Vegas.

Colorado coach Jared Bednar searched for answers against the Golden Knights, even changing goalies on Tuesday. The Avalanche also dealt with injuries to their top two players this series — reigning Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar and Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon.

The Golden Knights had their own injury issues, winning the first two games of the series without Stone.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson, right, celebrates after scoring on Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood during the second period in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Sunday, May 24, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)