Friday, July 17, 2026
Understand the news faster
Understand the news faster
Visual brief U.S. & Politics 2 sources

Thunder beat Spurs, move one win from finals

Oklahoma City reaches a 3-2 West finals lead on its home court after a 127-114 Game 5 win over San Antonio

Cross-checked across 2 sources
Full visual brief
Drawn.News visual brief: NBA playoffs: Thunder one win from finals as Wembanyama and Spurs go quiet in Game 5
In this brief

Sources & verification

Reporting behind this brief, checked before publication.

Brief text

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 32 points in victory OKC lead best-of-seven series 3-2 after 127-114 win Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did not like the way he started on Tuesday night, but the Oklahoma City Thunder star came up big in the second and third quarters – with plenty of help from the cast around him – as the Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 127-114...

  1. Frame 1Oklahoma City reaches a 3-2 West finals lead on its home court after a 127-114 Game 5 win over San Antonio.
  2. Frame 2Shai Gilgeous-Alexander starts cold, then finishes with 32 points as the Thunder take control in the middle quarters.
  3. Frame 3San Antonio loses the ball and the rhythm; Victor Wembanyama scores 20 on 4-of-15 shooting.
  4. Frame 4The Spurs' Game 4 reset disappears, and Oklahoma City turns Game 5 into a two-game closing chance.
  5. Frame 5Thursday in San Antonio is the pressure point: Thunder clinch the NBA Finals, or the series returns tied.
How this was checked
Reporting
Cross-checked across 2 sources
Claims
We checked the names, dates, numbers, and core facts against the reporting linked above
Artwork
This is an editorial illustration based on the reporting, not source photography
Published
May 27, 9:00 AM EDT
Our standards
Editorial standards and corrections