The defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder had no intention of heading to Texas in a 0-2 hole against the San Antonio Spurs, so they punched back.

When the final buzzer sounded Wednesday night (May 20), the Thunder had outplayed the Spurs en route to a 122-113 win at Paycom Arena, tying the Western Conference Finals 1-1.

Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 25 points and added eight assists. He also delivered one of the most earth-shattering dunks of the 2026 playoffs to date. Devin Vassell chipped in 22 points on 6-for-12 shooting from behind the arc. Victor Wembanyama followed up the best performance of his career with 21 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocks.

San Antonio fought hard but couldn’t find their groove down the stretch, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered a bounce-back performance with 30 points and nine assists to lead the Thunder to victory.

The series now moves to San Antonio for Game 3 on Friday night (May 22). Here are five takeaways from the Spurs’ loss as they look to respond in kind at the Frost Bank Center.

The Spurs turned the ball over 21 times Wednesday night – nine by Stephon Castle – and the Thunder turned those mistakes into 27 points. Castle now has 20 turnovers in the last two games, the most by any player in a two-game playoff span since 1977. With De’Aaron Fox still injured, the Spurs’ inconsistent ball-handling is starting to surface.

The Spurs and Thunder both have deep benches, but Game 2 belonged to OKC’s second unit, which outscored the Spurs’ reserves 57-25. Keldon Johnson led the Spurs’ bench with 10 points, while Alex Caruso paced the Thunder with 17, and Jared McCain and Cason Wallace added 12 apiece. Game 1 was no different with the Thunder’s bench outscoring the Spurs’ bench 50-16. The Spurs will need steadier production from its second unit – starting with Johnson – to close the gap.

The Spurs and Thunder are both dealing with injuries. San Antonio has been without De’Aaron Fox for the first two games, and things fell into disarray at the point guard position when rookie Dylan Harper left Game 2 with a leg injury. With both primary ball-handlers out, the team struggled to find their rhythm offensively. Their availability for Game 3 will be the Spurs’ most important storyline.

Gilgeous-Alexander is going to get his points, whether it’s an inefficient 24 in Game 1 or the MVP-like performance he delivered in Game 2 with 30 points on 50% shooting. It’s up to the Spurs’ perimeter defenders to get the ball out of his hands early and force him to shoot tougher shots. In Game 2, he looked too comfortable, picking his spots like he was in pre-game warmups.

As a team, the Spurs shot a respectable 40% from behind the arc, fueled largely by Vassell’s hot hand. Castle and Julian Champagnie, however, combined for a dismal 2-for-13. With Victor Wembanyama drawing so much attention down low, those wide-open looks are going to be there. The Spurs simply need to knock them down.