Oklahoma City Thunder confident in another bounce-back effort in Game 2 against San Antonio Spurs in NBA play-offs

OKLAHOMA CITY – After playing a career-high 48-plus minutes in their epic 122-115 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on May 18 to open the National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference Finals, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was not worried about keeping anything in the tank.

“Yes, it takes a toll,” he said. “(But) we can rest in July.”

There is certainly no time to rest now, as Wembanyama and the Spurs take on the Thunder in Game 2 in Oklahoma City on May 20 (May 21, Singapore time).

He produced a masterpiece in Game 1 with 41 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks.

But the Thunder are used to this, dropping the first game in two of their series during last season’s run to their NBA championship win.

“It’s a long series,” Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort said. “We’re not going to be perfect. We’ve been in this situation before and we were able to turn the page... just go out there and try to win the game.”

The Thunder bounced back to beat Denver by 43 points in Game 2 of their second-round series last season after dropping the opener, then beat Indiana by 16 in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Oklahoma City won both series in seven games.

“The best thing about this team and where the problem-solving comes from is the humility,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Everybody looks in the mirror first. No one’s pointing fingers. Everybody’s just thinking about how they can get better, how they can help the team and we work together on it.”

For Oklahoma City, beyond slowing down Wembanyama’s offence, a big key to turning things around is getting more out of Chet Holmgren and bringing back Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s efficiency.

Holmgren was just two for seven for eight points on May 18 after shooting 60 per cent from the field and averaging 18.6 points per game in the first two rounds.

But Daigneault said the shift in Game 1 was more indicative of the offensive struggles overall than Holmgren in particular.

“I think the general attacks in the offence will benefit everybody, including him,” he said. “I think if we play better collectively, he’ll be more involved and we’ll be able to get more cracks offensively.”

Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 24 points, finished the game strong but was just seven of 23 from the field, so the Thunder will need their star to get up to gear sooner rather than later.

On May 19, the New York Knicks, fuelled by 38 points from Jalen Brunson, erased a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-104 in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern Finals.

Brunson admitted he did not know how the Knicks had pulled off the sensational comeback.

“I don’t have an answer for you,” he said. “We kept fighting, kept believing, just kept chipping away... and we just found a way.” REUTERS, AFP