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Thunder-Spurs Game 2 takeaways: Defending Wemby, turnovers haunt San Antonio

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Thunder-Spurs Game 2 takeaways: Defending Wemby, turnovers haunt San Antonio

The 2026 Western Conference finals are all knotted up.

The Oklahoma City Thunder outlasted the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, May 20 in Game 2, 122-113, as the series now heads to San Antonio.

Two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bounced back with a 30-point, 9-assist game after he had struggled with double-teams and inefficiency in the series opener.

On the other side of that, Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama (21 points, 17 rebounds) appeared to wear down late in the game, as Oklahoma City ramped up its physicality against him.

Here are takeaways from Game 2 of the Western Conference finals:

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Victor Wembanyama leads Spurs to a huge win in double OT. See game highlights

Oklahoma City Thunder fans react during Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs at Paycom Center on May 18, 2026.

The biggest issue for the Spurs is obvious

In Game 1, the Spurs committed 21 turnovers — against 14 by the Thunder — yielding to a 28-17 deficit in points off of those giveaways.

On Wednesday night, it was much of the same. San Antonio turned the ball over 21 times (compared to Oklahoma City’s 9), leading to a 27-10 Thunder edge in points off of turnovers. Fourteen of those Spurs turnovers were on Thunder steals.

The main culprit here is Stephon Castle, who has had a solid series against Oklahoma City, overall, though he has committed 20 turnovers across both games. Some of that is because he has been tasked with more ball-handling than usual; starting point guard De’Aaron Fox has missed both games, and Dylan Harper left Game 2 in the third quarter.

That has forced Castle to be the primary play-maker. It’s a role he’s comfortable with in smaller doses, but Spurs coach Mitch Johnson already offered some possible solutions to cut down on those giveaways.

“We’ve addressed it and we’ll continue to, in terms of trying to help him with some of his reads, especially when he’s tired,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said after the game. “Whether it’s playing more off of two feet or getting off the ball earlier with the early pass and letting the ball find the open man.

“They do such a great job of showing crowds in the paint and having multiple bodies. So it’s not just Steph. He had too many turnovers, but our whole team did.”

Castle did put the blame on himself, but it’s unclear whether Fox or Harper — or both — will miss additional time in the series. And while the Spurs did steal one game on the road, this pace of turning the ball over is not sustainable for winning.

How Oklahoma City defends Victor Wembanyama will define the rest of this series

In Game 1, 12 of Victor Wembanyama’s 14 made field goals came inside the restricted area, which is the semicircle that’s four feet from the center of the rim. Another of those 14 was from just outside the restricted area, and the final one was the logo 3 he hit in the first overtime.

In Game 2, the Thunder altered their defensive plan on Wembanyama.

Whereas in the series opener, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault chose to rotate a platoon of wing players — Alex Caruso and Jalen Williams being the primary ones — Wednesday night, he asked center Isaiah Hartenstein to be the primary defender on Wembanyama.

Hartenstein was physical, using his added bulk to displace Wembanyama down low and make it more difficult for him to get clean looks down low.

That said, Hartenstein also pushed the limits of what’s legal, often grabbing Wembanyama’s arms and jersey, pulling him and shoving him around the low block.

“I thought the other night, and during the regular season, having wings on (Wembanyama) was effective in the macro,” Daigneault said. “The other night, he just had way too much at the restricted.

“Two things that just didn’t feel good were his stuff at the rim just felt too sustainable, so we had to make some corrections there; it won’t be the last time we have a wing on him, we had a wing on him a couple of possessions tonight. And then the other thing that doesn’t feel good is playing Hart 12 minutes. It just didn’t feel good to me. And in order to get him extended past (12 minutes), that’s the matchup.”

Wembanyama still did score 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting and he hauled in 17 rebounds, but the added energy expended to battle Hartenstein appeared to take its toll late in the game; Wembanyama went just 2-of-7 in the fourth quarter, scoring only 4 points.

Daigneault added that the Thunder would never commit to having Hartenstein focus on Wembanyama the entire game, but that the injury to Williams prompted Hartenstein to take on the bulk of that responsibility in Game 2.

The Spurs will certainly tweak their plan to find ways to get Wembanyama easier offense. The Thunder, in turn, will need to adjust accordingly, because this is the central matchup in the series.

Victor Wembanyama shoots as the Oklahoma City Thunder's Isaiah Hartenstein defends during Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on May 20, 2026 at Paycom Center.

Victor Wembanyama shoots as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Isaiah Hartenstein defends during Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on May 20, 2026 at Paycom Center.

Injury management is suddenly going to be a delicate matter

Thunder forward Jalen Williams seemingly reaggravated the left hamstring injury that had kept him sidelined for a month-and-a-half.

Spurs rookie guard Dylan Harper left the game in the third quarter with a right leg injury.

After the game, there was no definitive update on either, but there’s the chance that either or both could now miss extended time in the series. This comes as Spurs point guard De’Aaron Fox has missed both Western Conference finals games with right ankle soreness.

How both teams manage those injuries — and navigate any potential substitutions that might need to happen — will be significant because all three are essential to their respective teams.

The Spurs are in a particularly precarious situation, as Fox and Harper are often catalysts for the entire offensive operation.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Thunder beat Spurs in Game 2: Takeaways from Western Conference finals

Read the full article here

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