NBA Playoffs: Sparked by Alex Caruso, Thunder bench steps up again

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) celebrates his three-point basket against the San Antonio Spurs in the second half of Game 5 in the Western Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

NBA scores today: Thunder vs Spurs – West finals Game 5

OKLAHOMA CITY — Alex Caruso sparked another big effort from the bench Tuesday night. And he’s a big reason the Thunder are on the verge of returning to the NBA Finals.

Caruso scored 22 points and was 4 of 8 on 3-pointers to help Oklahoma City — down two starters — to a 127-114 victory over San Antonio in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

READ: NBA Playoffs: Jared McCain comes up big for Thunder in Game 5

Most 3PM off the bench in a single NBA Conference Finals series:

Alex Caruso (OKC): 18 in 2026 West FinalsStephen Jackson (SAS): 17 in 2012 West FinalsMickaël Piétrus (ORL): 17 in 2009 East Finals

Thunder win Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead in the West Finals 🍿 https://t.co/nIbtWJqhTl pic.twitter.com/dIoSyXScp3

— NBA (@NBA) May 27, 2026

“We have good players on our bench. They’ve got good players on their bench,” Caruso said. “So, we know that’s an area of the game where you can try to find some positive plus-minus time for that group.”

The bench rotation wasn’t the same for the Thunder in Game 5; Jared McCain moved into the starting lineup and scored 20 points. McCain scored 24 of Oklahoma City’s 76 bench points in a 123-108 win in Game 3 at San Antonio.

Instead, Oklahoma City got eight points off the bench from Kenrich Williams, who made both 3s he attempted, and seven points from Cason Wallace. The Thunder outscored the Spurs by 29 points in Wallace’s 31 minutes.

READ: Thunder on brink of NBA Finals return, top Spurs in Game 5

“I think we’ve just gone a good job, whoever it’s been — and it’s been a lot of different people during the series, a couple of guys that have been consistently there,” said Caruso, who added six assists. That group, I think … has just done a great job of competing through those minutes.”

After five games, the Thunder bench is outscoring San Antonio’s reserves 257-127.