Stepping out of Oklahoma City’s huddle, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander knew the Thunder needed … something. Up five, a shade over a minute left and San Antonio was surging. Down 1–0 in the Western Conference finals, this wasn’t a must-win for Oklahoma City but no one inside Paycom Center on Wednesday—Gilgeous-Alexander included—liked the Thunder’s chances of winning this series without it. With 10 seconds on the shot clock, Gilgeous-Alexander collected the ball from Jared McCain. He drove left, took two dribbles, shed Stephon Castle and tossed up a midrange jumper. Bucket. Game over. Series … still in play. Sequels are rarely as good as the original. In Game 1, the Spurs and Thunder painted a masterpiece, a double-overtime thriller headlined by heroics on both sides. Game 2 resembled a cheap knockoff. There were good performances (Gilgeous-Alexander’s 30 points, Victor Wembanyama’s 21-point, 17-rebound effort) but no great ones. There was drama (San Antonio slicing a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit down to five) but nothing like Monday’s edge-of-your-seat stuff. If the opener was a Picasso, the follow-up was a nice knockoff. If Game 1 was Citizen Kane, Game 2 was more Law Abiding Citizen. “We’ll take the W,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, “but we got to keep getting better.” Indeed, and they needed the W. San Antonio took four of the five matchups against Oklahoma City during the regular season, routing the Thunder in two of them. Wembanyama had dominated his matchups with Chet Holmgren, while Castle and Dylan Harper gave Oklahoma City fits. A Game 1 win gave the Spurs an injection of confidence. Headed home with two would have made them all but unbeatable. “Waking up this morning, we were naturally more desperate than they were,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “We had to get this game.” And Oklahoma City was better. The Thunder shot 47.9% from the floor. They connected on 36.1% from three. They kept the ball moving (34 assists on 45 makes), turned the Spurs over 21 times (against just nine of their own) and destroyed San Antonio off the bench (57 to 25). “[The emphasis] was just our tempo on our offense generally,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “And if we play with a good tempo, then we’re going to get multiple people in actions on multiple possessions, and they’re going to have to work harder collectively.”After Game 1, Daigneault did some self-reflection. He didn’t like the ease Wembanyama played with around the rim. “It felt too sustainable,” said Daigneault. And he didn’t like that Isaiah Hartenstein played just 12 minutes. Before Game 2, Daigneault spoke to Hartenstein. “He kind of apologized,” said Hartenstein. “But it was more like, ‘Hey, be ready.’” Hartenstein played 27 minutes on Wednesday. He had 10 points. He pulled down 13 rebounds. He handed out three assists. He wrestled in the paint with Wembanyama, part of an obvious overall Oklahoma City strategy to be more physical with the Spurs’ lanky superstar. “[Hartenstein’s] our physicality and our backbone,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. Wembanyama’s final stat line was pretty good. But he had just three baskets in the paint and made one trip to the free throw line. Without Hartenstein, it would have been a lot better.“If you listed all the skills you wanted from a modern center, true center, he checks every box,” said Daigneault. “That’s why I love him. And the other thing I love about him is I played him 12 minutes and he doesn’t bat an eye. Turns around tonight and played a great game.” There were other contributors. Alex Caruso followed up a 31-point outburst in Game 1 with 17 in Game 2. McCain and Cason Wallace chipped in 12 apiece. Holmgren had 13. Much has been made about the Thunder’s depth this season. On Wednesday, they flexed it. And in the end, Gilgeous-Alexander took over. He admits he wasn’t ready for Game 1. “I just have sucked when I get too long of a break,” he said. In Game 2, he was sharper. He pushed the pace. He scored but continued to make plays (nine assists). On a young team, he was a calming presence. As he raised up for his final shot, he heard McCain calling for the ball. After seeing the ball go through, Gilgeous-Alexander turned to McCain and, explicitly, told him to calm down. “We hashed it out,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, smiling. “We’re good.”Adjustments were made, Gilgeous-Alexander said, but ultimately, Oklahoma City just played better. “This late in the season, it’s nothing special that you can do,” he said. These teams have seen each other so many times, had so many battles. Any tweaks are meaningless compared to simple execution. “Every team has their identity and when they impose their identity more than the other team does, they usually win no matter what level or what stakes are in the game,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “And tonight we just did a better job of that than we did in the first game and that’s probably why we came out on top.”It won’t get any easier. San Antonio accomplished what it needed to, claiming home court advantage. And this series could become a war of attrition. Harper exited the game in the third quarter with a leg injury, joining De’Aaron Fox on the Spurs’ injury list. Meanwhile, Jalen Williams appeared to reaggravate his hamstring injury in the first quarter, shelving him for the rest of the game. The team that wins this series could be the one that can keep its stars on the floor. For now, though, Oklahoma City stayed in it. A win is a win, but everyone inside the Thunder locker room knows they will need more to get another. The crowd will be rocking in San Antonio on Friday, the energy fueling a Spurs team trying to complete the most improbable of postseason runs. “We’re still going to have to keep getting better throughout this series if we want a chance to win series,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “[The Spurs] are a really good team, really good defensive team, really good. They check all the boxes, so we’re going to have to continue to get better. Tonight wasn’t good enough to win the series and we know that.”More NBA From Sports IllustratedListen to SI’s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow