OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Thunder would prefer not to make a habit out of losing the opener of a playoff series, but they have developed a confidence in that situation, if not a comfort level. As they did twice during last season's title run, the Thunder responded with a Game 2 victory to even the series before heading on the road, pulling out a 122-113 win over the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals Wednesday night.
"This late in the season, there's nothing special that you can do," said two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander , who led Oklahoma City with 30 points and nine assists while committing only one turnover. "Every team has their identity, and when they impose their identity more than the other team does, they usually win no matter what level or what stakes are in the game.
Tonight we just did a better job of that than we did in the first game." Oklahoma City's identity is a poised, intelligent, physical team that wreaks havoc defensively and wears down opponents with its depth. "There's no panic," said forward Alex Caruso , who scored 17 points, one of four Thunder reserves to score in double figures.
Oklahoma City had a 57-25 advantage in bench points. That matched the Thunder's most bench points in a playoff game since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.
The Thunder also had 57 bench points in their Game 2 win over the Denver Nuggets in last season's West semifinals, when Oklahoma City lost the series opener. The Thunder's bench also had 11 of the team's 14 steals as Oklahoma City converted 21 turnovers into 27 points.
It was the fifth time out of nine playoff wins this season that the Thunder scored at least 27 points off of turnovers. The only teams to do that more often during a postseason run were the Thunder last season (nine) and the 2007 Warriors.
Oklahoma City was forced to rely on its bench more than planned because star wing Jalen Williams exited after the first quarter due to tightness in his left hamstring, an issue that jeopardizes his availability going forward in the series. But starting center Isaiah Hartenstein played a significantly bigger role after logging only 12 minutes in the Game 1 loss, when Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama feasted with 41 points and 24 rebounds.
Daigneault said he regretted not playing Hartenstein more in the opener, when his minutes were primarily matched up with San Antonio backup center Luke Kornet . Hartenstein played 27 minutes in Game 2, including all but 20 seconds in the fourth quarter, and finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds (eight offensive) and three assists while frequently freeing teammates for open shots with his screening.
Hartenstein's defense was also key in preventing Wembanyama, who had 21 points and 17 rebounds, from dominating again. According to ESPN tracking, Hartenstein was the final defender on Wembanyama on 47 plays in Game 2, compared with only three plays in the series opener, when Oklahoma City often defended the 7-foot-4 phenom with wings.
Wembanyama's paint scoring dropped from 26 points in the series opener to 10 in Game 2. "That's kind of my game, just being physical," Hartenstein said.
"I think last game they were more physical than us, and so I just wanted to establish that earlier. [Wembanyama is] a great player.
He's going to get to certain things, but you just have to make it as hard as possible." The Thunder were also much more efficient offensively in Game 2 than the opener, starting with Gilgeous-Alexander. He struggled in Game 1, finishing with 24 points on 7-of-23 shooting, and acknowledged that the presence of Wembanyama, the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, as a rim protector sapped his aggressiveness at times.
Gilgeous-Alexander went 12-of-24 from the floor on Wednesday night, when all of his buckets were inside the 3-point arc. "I guess we just got a little bit more comfortable with that type of defense," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
"Obviously it's very unique and different from literally every other defense in the league, so it takes some games. We're still going to have to keep getting better throughout this series if we want a chance to win a series.
They're a good team, a good defensive team -- really good. They check all the boxes.
We're going to have to communicate better. Tonight wasn't good enough to win the series, and we know that."