June 2, 2026
5 min read
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gave them everything he had. Thirty-five points. Nine assists. Three steals. Forty-three minutes of relentless effort. It wasn't enough.
The San Antonio Spurs weathered one of SGA's best performances of the season and pulled away late, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 111–103 on May 30 to hand OKC a brutal defeat. The difference? A Spurs offense that caught fire from three-point range and refused to blink in the fourth quarter.
San Antonio and Oklahoma City traded punches for three quarters, but the Spurs' superior three-point shooting opened the gap that OKC couldn't close. The Spurs shot a scalding 43% from deep — connecting on 17-of-40 attempts — while the Thunder managed just 34% on 35 tries (12-35). On a night when both teams shot an identical 45% from the field overall, the arc was where this game was won.
The Spurs also owned the offensive glass, hauling in 15 offensive rebounds to Oklahoma City's 10 — generating extra possessions at exactly the moments they needed them.
The fourth quarter told the story. With San Antonio leading 107–101 with two minutes left, Cason Wallace buried a 25-foot three-pointer off an SGA assist to trim it to six — one of the few moments where OKC threatened to make it a game. But the Spurs answered immediately. Stephon Castle converted a two-point shot to push it to 109–101, and when Wallace drove for a layup with under a minute left to make it 109–103, Devin Vassell slammed the door: a running dunk off a De'Aaron Fox feed with 4.1 seconds remaining sealed it at 111–103.
35 PTS | 4 REB | 9 AST | 3 STL | 1 BLK | 12-21 FG | 9-11 FT | 43 MIN
SGA was magnificent, and it still wasn't enough — that sentence alone tells you how well San Antonio played. He was aggressive from the jump, attacking the paint and drawing contact (9-of-11 from the line), and his playmaking kept the Thunder in it deep into the fourth. His +/- of -7 is the harsh arithmetic of a loss, but this was a performance that deserved better. Three steals, nine assists, and 35 points in 43 minutes of playoff-intensity basketball. SGA left everything on the floor.
22 PTS | 7 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 7-15 FG | 3-5 3PT | 42 MIN | +7
Wembanyama was the anchor. He finished +7 on the night — the best plus/minus among the top performers — and his 3-of-5 shooting from three stretched the Thunder's defense in ways that created open looks for his teammates. Twenty-two points and seven rebounds in 42 minutes is a quietly dominant line, and his presence in the paint forced OKC into uncomfortable shot selections all night.
20 PTS | 6 REB | 6-11 FG | 6-10 3PT | +16
If Wembanyama was the anchor, Champagnie was the engine. He was the best player on the floor by plus/minus — a staggering +16 — and his 6-of-10 shooting from three was the single biggest reason the Spurs' offense hummed. Twenty points on 60% three-point shooting is the kind of performance that wins games.
16 PTS | 6 REB | 6 AST | 7-15 FG | 36 MIN
Castle did a little of everything. Six assists, six rebounds, 16 points — and his late fourth-quarter bucket at the 59-second mark effectively ended OKC's last real comeback push. Six turnovers are worth watching, but his overall impact was net positive.
15 PTS | 5 AST | 3 STL | 6-12 FG | 3-7 3PT | 36 MIN
Fox was the disruptor. Three steals and five assists, including the dime to Vassell on the dagger dunk. His defensive instincts complement Wembanyama's length perfectly, and that pairing makes San Antonio genuinely difficult to score against in the halfcourt.
| Stat | San Antonio | Oklahoma City |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goal % | 45% | 45% |
| Three Point % | 43% (17-40) | 34% (12-35) |
| Free Throw % | 74% (14-19) | 77% (17-22) |
| Rebounds | 40 | 38 |
| Off. Rebounds | 15 | 10 |
| Assists | 21 | 23 |
| Turnovers | 12 | 14 |
| Blocks | 2 | 5 |
| Steals | 9 | 9 |
The numbers don't lie: San Antonio won this game from three-point range and on the offensive glass. Oklahoma City actually had more assists and more blocks, but those advantages were buried under the Spurs' 43% clip from deep.
San Antonio's balanced attack — five players in double figures, led by Wembanyama's quiet dominance and Champagnie's incendiary shooting — is a hard puzzle for any team to solve. The Spurs don't rely on any single playmaker to carry them, which makes them resilient even when opponents zero in on Wembanyama.
For Oklahoma City, the SGA question looms large. He put up MVP-caliber numbers and the Thunder still lost by eight. That's not a knock on Gilgeous-Alexander — it's a sign that OKC needs more consistent production around him.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander walked off the floor having given everything. Thirty-five points, nine assists, three steals — a performance that belongs on a highlights reel regardless of the final score. But the San Antonio Spurs were simply better as a team on May 30. Their three-point shooting was surgical, their offensive rebounding was relentless, and when OKC needed stops in the fourth quarter, the Spurs kept finding the right play.
The question now: can the Thunder find a way to win when their best player's best isn't enough?