EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsOKLAHOMA CITY -- Back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander committed three turnovers and missed his first four shots from the field, getting off to what he described as one of the worst starts of his career in Tuesday's pivotal Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.But unlike the previous two games, the Oklahoma City Thunder didn't have a double-digit early deficit they had to attempt to dig out of against the San Antonio Spurs. In fact, Gilgeous-Alexander's first bucket, a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer with 31.2 seconds left in the first quarter, tied the score.From that point, Gilgeous-Alexander steadied himself and the Thunder continued to receive significant contributions throughout the rotation, cruising to a 127-114 win at Paycom Center to regain the series lead."I always say we're a team out there," said Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with 32 points and nine assists but was only 7-of-19 shooting and committed six turnovers. "We don't get this far, I don't have this individual success, this team doesn't have the success without all 15 guys in the locker room. We proved it tonight."If it was four or five me's out there, we would've been down 20 after the first quarter. But the guys were great to start the game. I probably should never start like that again and give us a better chance to win a ballgame, but the guys held it down."Third-team All-NBA power forward Chet Holmgren had his most impactful performance of the series, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Holmgren's early production was especially important while Gilgeous-Alexander got off to a slow start. Half of Holmgren's points came in the first quarter, when he made all four of his shots.Guard Jared McCain, making the first playoff start of his career as coach Mark Daigneault sought to add scoring punch to the lineup with Jalen Williams (hamstring) and Ajay Mitchell (calf) out, scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half. The Spurs attempted to target McCain on the other end, but San Antonio scored only 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting with him as the primary defender, including 0-of-9 combined by Stephon Castle, De'Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell."One thing with him, you don't have to tell him to be confident, to be aggressive," Thunder veteran forward Alex Caruso said of McCain. "That's who he is as a person and as a player."As was the case in the first three games of the series, Caruso played a starring role off the bench. He had 22 points, six assists and three steals in 28 minutes, and the Thunder outscored the Spurs by 18 points with him on the court."He's played in the most big games on this team," Gilgeous-Alexander said of Caruso, a two-time champion. "That experience you can't recreate or manufacture. AC isn't some uber-talented guy. ... But he's one of -- if not the best competitor in the NBA night in and night out. He wears that and he sets that tone for us as a group, and it's come full-fledged this series with guys out and him having to step up."The only players who had a better plus-minus in the game than Caruso: Oklahoma City guard Cason Wallace (plus-29 in 31 minutes) and center Isaiah Hartenstein (plus-24 in 31 minutes).Wallace returned to a reserve role after starting Game 4, when Oklahoma City had its worst offensive performance in more than five years, and was a defensive menace. Hartenstein had 12 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and held Spurs star Victor Wembanyama to 3-of-11 shooting as the primary defender."It's a team thing," Hartenstein said of the defensive effort on Wembanyama, who finished with 20 points on 4-of-15 shooting. "With any great player, you're not going to stop him with one player. So it's going in there, just making his looks hard, making sure he just doesn't get anything easy. I think we just did a great job as team just executing that. Again, he's a great player, so you just have to do it as a collective."Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 of his 32 points over the second and third quarters as the Thunder seized control."One of the things that I always marvel at with him is his ability to course correct inside of a game," Daigneault said. "He usually doesn't go a full game struggling like that. He obviously didn't have his fastball early, but he stays so present. His confidence never wavers. He really has great trust in himself and that was on display tonight."The defending champion Thunder are 11-2 this postseason and one win away from earning a return trip to the NBA Finals, where they would face the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks."It's going to take more than just Shai to beat [the Spurs], to beat any team at this point," Caruso said. "He's No. 1 on the scouting report every game we've played since I've been here. Might get up into like 40 [points], but we're not getting an easy 40, 50. He's going to get somewhere 25 to 35 and work hard for it. There's a bunch of other points and other plays to be made through the game for the team to make. And it's just about being confident in each other and going out there and playing."
