Oklahoma City Thunder beat San Antonio Spurs 122-113 at home on Wednesday, May 20.
How it unfolded
The Thunder led by 11 at halftime and by 8 through three quarters, finishing with a 9-point win.
What decided it
The Thunder gave the ball away on 9.3% of their possessions while the Spurs did so 21.8% of the time and the Thunder cashed in 20.2 free throws for every 100 shots, the Spurs only 17.9. Protecting the ball is an easy edge to overlook, but each turnover costs a shot.
The Spurs did win one battle, shooting: eFG% of 58.3% against 54.8%. The Thunder made up for it elsewhere.
The game played at about 97 possessions per team. The Thunder scored 126.4 points per 100 possessions and the Spurs scored 117.1, a difference of 9.3.
The Thunder's reserves also made a difference, outscoring the opposing bench 47-27.
Who made the difference
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) posted the best line of the night by Game Score (24.9): 30 pts, 4 reb, 9 ast on 12-24 shooting. The team was +14 in the minutes Shai played.
For the Spurs, Victor Wembanyama was the best of the rest at 22.9: 21 pts, 17 reb, 6 ast, 4 blk on 8-16 shooting.
Isaiah Hartenstein (10 pts, 13 reb, 3 ast) and Victor Wembanyama (21 pts, 17 reb, 6 ast) each recorded a double-double.
Game Score is a single number that weighs points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, shooting efficiency, fouls and turnovers. It is not an official stat, just a quick way to rank lines.
What it means
The pre-game Win Meter had it close to a coin flip, at about 59% for the Thunder.
Across the last 9 meetings in our records, San Antonio Spurs lead 6-3.
Written automatically by Tip Off Live software from box score data. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.