In pivotal Game 5, Oklahoma City Thunder aim to be early aggressors against San Antonio Spurs in NBA play-offs
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Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs shooting over the Oklahoma City Thunder's Aaron Wiggins (No. 21) and Cason Wallace (No. 22) during the Spurs' 103-82 NBA play-off win on May 24.
PHOTO: AFP
OKLAHOMA CITY – The San Antonio Spurs have had big starts in each of the last two games of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference Finals.
Heading into Game 5 on May 26 (May 27 morning, Singapore time) with the best-of-seven series level at 2-2, the hosts Oklahoma City Thunder are looking to reverse that trend.
“They just punched us in our face early,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after their 103-82 loss in San Antonio on May 24. “It’s two games in a row they’ve all come out the aggressors. We’ve just gotta do a better job of starting the games.”
In that contest, the Spurs stormed to a 23-8 lead to open the first quarter. In Game 3 on May 22, they scored the first 15 points of the clash before Oklahoma City came back to win 123-108.
The series has been physical throughout, with the Thunder throwing different looks at Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, whose side have done the same against Gilgeous-Alexander.
“They have multiple guys that are tenacious, they get into the ball, and then they have Wemby behind them, and they know that, and they do that to their strength,” the 27-year-old Oklahoma City guard added.
“So obviously a really good defence. To score on them, it’s gonna take quick decisions, the right decisions, you gotta be really good offensively and really sound.”
The Spurs changed the way they approached the Thunder in Game 4, opting for more one-on-one defending against Gilgeous-Alexander and preventing them from getting open looks from beyond the arc as much as possible.
Oklahoma City hit just six of 33 three-point attempts in Game 4 after shooting nearly 40 per cent from distance in the first three games.
“I don’t want to say what it was,” San Antonio’s Devin Vassell said. “I think we made a great defensive adjustment. I feel like they had so many wide-open threes over the past couple games, so we were trying to cut them out with that.”
On May 25 in the Eastern Conference Finals, the New York Knicks advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999 with a 130-93 victory at the Cleveland Cavaliers, stretching their franchise-record play-off win streak to 11 games.
Six New York players finished with double-digit scoring. Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 14 rebounds, OG Anunoby added 17 points while reserve Landry Shamet had 16 points on four-of-four three-point shooting in the blowout win.
“We’re going to enjoy it for a day or two, but we’ve got a larger goal here and we’ve got to start locking in,” Shamet said.
The Knicks swept the Cavs 4-0 and will prepare for the NBA Finals starting on June 3. REUTERS, AFP
