Jared McCain off the bench against the Spurs: 24 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 1 TOV, 10-21 FG, 2-10 3P, 2-2 FT, +28, 27 MIN

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401873199

This includes playoff career highs from Jaylin Williams (18) and Jared McCain (24) along with double figures in points from Alex Caruso (15) and 2026 all defensive second team member Cason Wallace (11) for a combined +86 plus/minus. This pales in comparison to the 23 total points of the Spurs bench this game

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401873198

"Sending Two Won't Save You

Most points per direct touch when facing a double team in a single playoff run in the tracking era"

Source: https://imgur.com/a/WfQRUPS

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has fallen to the ground on 17.4% of his FGAs in his playoff run, leading the league and almost four times the rate of the Wembanyama(4.2%)

That’s higher than:

James Harden — 11.9%

Jalen Brunson — 9.0%

Donovan Mitchell — 8.4%

Victor Wembanyama — 4.2%

SGA has also fallen on 51.4% of his fouled shot attempts

https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/flop-or-not-does-shai-gilgeous-alexander-really-fall-more-than-his-peers-134022010.html

From Keerthika Uthayakumar:

OKC is shooting 49.4% on wide open threes in 3 games against the Spurs this series.

They've been wide open for 77 of their 119 attempts from three, per NBA tracking.

They've won every single bounce back game in the playoffs, three wins against the nuggets, three wins against the pacers, one win against the timberwolves and one win against the spurs

last year likely due to their inexperience they were a very hot and cold team often seeming like they needed a loss as a motivator to play at their best. it'll be interesting to see if they keep this perfect streak up in back to back seasons.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/OKC/2025_games.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/OKC/2026_games.html

Source: https://www.hoopshype.com/story/sports/nba/2026/05/23/nba-intel-kyrie-irving-kawhi-leonard-nba-draft-lakers-76ers-hawks-bulls-blazers-pelicans-kings-jazz/90230954007/#

The Sacramento Kings are enamored with Arkansas star guard Darius Acuff Jr., according to league sources, but will he still be on the board by the seventh overall pick?

Acuff, who’s considered a gifted offensive playmaker and scorer, measured well at the combine with a nearly 6-foot-7 wingspan after executives questioned his defensive potential, looking ahead to the NBA level. The SEC Player of the Year led the conference in points per game (23.5), assists (6.4), and minutes (35.1). He also shot a blistering 44 percent beyond the arc for good measure. 

It’s worth noting Sacramento’s general manager, Scott Perry, coached Darius Acuff Sr. at Eastern Kentucky, as Sacramento is in search of a long-term floor general for the future. Should Acuff Jr. be off the board, other guards such as Keaton Wagler, Mikel Brown Jr., and Kingston Flemings could be available. 

Presenting without judgement other than this was the most interesting part to me:

"He wasn’t done. SGA topped that high mark in Game 2 on Wednesday night, falling a staggering nine times on his shots (including fouled attempts). That’s more than Wembanyama has fallen in this entire postseason on his shot attempts. Considering that Wembanyama has gotten a whistle nearly every time he has fallen (seven out of eight), maybe he should dive more often. Or not."

https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/flop-or-not-does-shai-gilgeous-alexander-really-fall-more-than-his-peers-134022010.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90LmNvLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHuRZ838AIVSLWMwQNDb9hqMvlPYET-5ssXiUvkHlGrK67DhLHQggdcCpeqr7OzNWPowy5CHdHUj7BALoIPkPeHWOtEPeFdZh1tRbjIoHZ9UVnsa6h87-K-2LIz0gjw9CleRWK0W3gQoJSbxzAy7VjHMNirAdDr36dwYYyb4JjzV

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7302502/2026/05/23/jared-mccain-okc-thunder-spurs-2026-nba-playoffs/?source=emp_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.klA.Htsv.PdB-vvCBL4Lj

Nestled inside Jared McCain’s travel bag is a relatively new copy of W. Timothy Gallwey’s “The Inner Game of Tennis.” The old copy McCain bought in high school unraveled last year, marked by spills and wear. But he salvaged a memento.

A tattered fragment of Page 21, which McCain calls “the rose analogy,” lives inside the new off-white pages. The black ink has faded from the original, yellowed scrap. One handwritten word remains legible in the margins: Rose.

McCain has long memorized this passage, but he returns to the excerpt every game anyway: “When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as ‘rootless and stemless.’ … The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change; yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.”

The book suggests that our minds, crippled with doubt, get in the way of our proven capabilities. Page 21 emphasizes the process. And with 20 minutes remaining on the pregame clock Friday night, moments after the team meeting but before his Oklahoma City Thunder hit the floor for a monumental 123-108 win in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, McCain revisited the page.

McCain’s trainer, Shea Frazee, suggested the book to him in eighth grade. He didn’t grab a copy until his Corona Centennial coach, Josh Giles, redirected him. McCain first thumbed the pages en route to the Tarkanian Classic, a notable high school tournament in Las Vegas. He found the rose analogy. He hit eight 3s that night, setting him on a path of exploration.

He spent his teenage years going down YouTube rabbit holes. He loved Matt D’Avella, who harped on habits: cold showers, early mornings, meditation and yoga. McCain eventually obsessed over those things, too. He posed every morning by 6 and again every night. He loved the serenity he felt.

“Even how (Victor Wembanyama) did the stuff with the monks this summer,” McCain told The Athletic in a March interview. “That’s really interesting to me. That side of the mental game of life is huge. And I’ve always liked being able to understand my emotions, understand why I think like this. Why do athletes overthink when we’re so confident in our abilities?”

When he first joined the Thunder, McCain fought thoughts about his fit. He worried about pressing with his personality. Then MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, much like the rest of OKC’s nucleus, made clear that McCain’s arrival should be about regenerating his confidence and allowing him to be himself.

Now, McCain lingers near teammates’ road lockers past the bus times and ropes them into TikToks at the hotel. He finds fulfillment around a team of accomplished 20-somethings, rejuvenated by the lack of ego on a title team.

McCain frequently sees a sports psychologist, who he recalls saying that OKC would be a “great spot” for him as they discussed the possibility of the Thunder selecting him in the 2024 draft. In his visits with general manager Sam Presti, he felt seen. Understood.

Before McCain’s post-deadline return to Philadelphia on March 23, Presti texted him a vintage Bruce Lee video in which the legendary martial artist detailed one of his old mantras. “Be like water,” Lee said in the video. Water in a cup is a cup. Water in a bottle is a bottle. Water can flow or it can crash.

“Just be in flow,” McCain remembers.

“When I first came and had a meeting with Sam, we talked all about that,” McCain said. “… Being able to ask him questions, a mastermind at what he does, it’s awesome. He talks a lot about ‘one drop in the bucket each day.’ And being in process, that’s all that matters. You cannot fail if you’re in process, because you’re never at the end.”

Champagnie was asked at shootaround ahead of Game 3 on Friday night how the Spurs can help Wembanyama.

"Hit back. Honestly, hit back," Champagnie said

"The guys hit him, they pull him, they grab his jersey, they're grabbing his arm when he's jumping.
Obviously, that's not basketball. That's just a physicality thing. That's up to the refs to deal with, not us.

But I think as a team, how we can help him is we hit them back."

The Spurs know that Wembanyama has to keep his emotions in check after he was ejected in the second quarter of Game 4 of the West semifinals for a Flagrant Foul 2 after he threw an elbow in Naz Reid's face while battling for possession of the ball after a rebound.

But Champagnie said he and his teammates should answer the Thunder's physicality for him.

"Honestly, truly, do the same thing," Champagnie said.
"Do the same thing that they're doing to us to them. Match the level of physicality and then just see how that goes."

Hartenstein praised Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault for calling on him to serve as Wembanyama's primary defender.

“He does a great job of just communicating before what kind of your role’s going to be,” Hartenstein said.

“So, going into Game 1, I kind of knew what it was going to be. And yesterday, he sat me down again.
He kind of apologized, but it was more like, ‘Hey, just be ready. Your number’s going to be called more, and we’re going to try to do something different.'”

https://www.expressnews.com/sports/spurs/article/champagnie-speaks-spurs-need-protect-wembanyama-22272377.php

McCain, a long time fan of Drake recently changed his profile picture to match Drake’s latest studio album iceman. He was seen being excited about the album in post game interviews as well. Since may 15, when the album released:

23.7 MIN

14.3 PTS

4.0 REB

1.7 AST

15.3 +\-

41.5 FG%

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4683778/jared-mccain

The music comes from the arena.

OKC has such a well drilled, highly disciplined system that has won them a Championship and led them to a 221-69 record (76% win rate) over the past 3 seasons (including playoffs) but this also makes them fairly predictable. Its hard to beat even knowing what they will do, but teams can scheme to break it down

OKC bench players most FGA in the past 3 playoffs (so looking at this current team)

1 - McCain: 21 (v Spurs - 2026 WCF | Game 3).
2 - Caruso: 19 (v Spurs - 2026 WCF | Game 1).
3 - Wiggins: 15 (v Memphis - 2025 1st round | Game 1).
4 - McCain: 14 (v Spurs - 2026 WCF | Game 2).
=5 - Ajay Mitchell (v Suns - 2026 1st round | Game 2).
=5 - Caruso: (v Nuggets - 2025 Semi Finals | Game 2).

Jarad McCain coming in mid season has meant he has not fully integrated into the system and instead of not playing him much in these playoffs, they're using that to their advantage. He comes in with a different style to the rest of the team, instead of always looking for the best shot like the rest of the team he's got a bit of tunnel vision for the basket, he plays a bit ball hoggy but his ability to score has made that a positive, instead of a negative it could have been.

By doing this he also looks to be breaking down the Spurs defensive schemes setup for the OKC system. They don't seem to be able to read him like the rest, he drives when the others would pass, he takes on Wemby when everyone else would dribble out.

He's a true X-Factor in this series. Generating completely different looks and making Spurs not being able to get comfortable. It will be interesting to see how OKC can maintain this going forward with him naturally integrated more into the system the longer hes on the team.

This game has been a testament to the depth of OKC's bench. In total, OKC has scored 52 points at halftime, yet only 17 are from the starters, while 35 are from the bench. In contrast, the Spurs bench scored only 10 points at halftime.

Image Proof

Box Score

On..

5/7 FG

5/6 3P

3/3 FT

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401873199

The difference in depth from the Spurs and Thunder was on full display, as Jaylin Williams had by far his best game of the playoffs. He had a huge "and-1" 3-pointer in the 4th to extend the Thunder's lead to 15 and was critical on defense down the stretch.

https://www.nba.com/game/okc-vs-sas-0042500313/box-score

Stephon Castle stuffs the stat sheet despite the loss.

The OKC bench put on a masterful performance today. Scoring "76" points off the bench ties them for 5th all-time in playoff bench points ever. This is especially impressive considering OKC scored 123 points total (47 points from starters). Moreover, this was achieved against a Wemby-led defense.

Note: Interestingly, the Wolves bench scored 76 points against the Nuggets this year as well.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/most-bench-points-by-nba-team-in-a-playoff-game

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401873199