Oklahoma City climbed out of a 15-0 hole and buried San Antonio 123-108 in Frost Bank Center, taking a 2-1 series lead on the strength of a bench that set a franchise record. Jared McCain and Jaylin Williams combined for 42 points off the second unit. The full Thunder bench scored 76 points, the most by any OKC bench in a playoff game since the franchise relocated from Seattle in 2008. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 26 points and 12 assists. De'Aaron Fox made his series debut after missing two games with the ankle, Wembanyama had 24 points, and San Antonio's 15-0 opening run was the longest to start a conference finals game since play-by-play tracking began in 1997. It didn't matter. OKC went on a 13-2 run once Wembanyama went to the bench, never trailed after the first quarter, and won convincingly on the road. Game 4 is Sunday in San Antonio. The team that wins a series tied 1-1 after Game 3 goes on to win 73 percent of the time.

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Oklahoma City Thunder 123, San Antonio Spurs 108

San Antonio's start was everything the home crowd needed. Fox knocked down his first shot in his series debut before the clock hit one minute, Wembanyama followed with a deep three, and the Spurs ran out to 15 consecutive points before OKC touched the scoreboard. It was the longest run to open a conference finals game in the play-by-play era, and Frost Bank Center was as loud as it had been all postseason. Then Wembanyama went to the bench. OKC went on a 13-2 run. And the series shifted irrevocably in Oklahoma City's direction before the first quarter ended.

That moment encapsulates San Antonio's central problem in this series. When Wembanyama is on the floor and operating at the level of his first two postseason performances, the Spurs can compete with anybody. When he rests, OKC's bench, depth, and size crush whatever San Antonio deploys in his absence. The Thunder closed the first quarter down 31-26 despite the deficit they'd dug out of. They led at halftime. They never trailed again.

McCain was the story of the night. He finished with 24 points, a postseason career high, on efficient shooting with multiple threes in the decisive second-quarter push that turned a five-point deficit into a double-digit lead. Jaylin Williams, making his first appearance in the series after missing Game 2 with left hamstring soreness, was even more efficient: 18 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 5-of-6 from three, also a postseason career high. Both players are in their second year. Together they produced a 42-point bench performance that would headline any ordinary playoff game. On Friday it was the supporting act to 76 total bench points, 15 from Caruso and 11 from Wallace completing the unit. The Spurs' bench scored 23. San Antonio's depth problem is not new, but the gap has never looked wider than it did in the two quarters when Wembanyama was managing his minutes and the Thunder bench operated freely.

SGA's 26 points and 12 assists were the composed, efficient version of his game that OKC needs when the bench is delivering. He did not need to do everything. He made the right reads, found cutters, kept the offense moving through the second and third quarters when San Antonio tried to force isolations and keep the game physical. Isaiah Hartenstein drew thunderous boos from the Frost Bank Center crowd after a hard foul on Wembanyama early in the second half, a moment that heated the game's temperature before officials brought it under control. Castle was involved in a chippy exchange in the second half that produced technical fouls on both sides.

Wembanyama had 24 points in his 32 minutes and was the dominant player on the floor during the time he played. That sentence has been true in every game of this series. The problem is that it takes 48 minutes to win a playoff game, and the 16 minutes Wembanyama isn't on the floor have produced a 76-point bench game and a series lead for OKC. Vassell added 20 points and Fox contributed 15 in his return, bringing the kind of attacking threat off the dribble that San Antonio had missed in the series' first two games. Harper played through the adductor soreness he'd been managing, though his usage was managed carefully given the injury. Castle finished with 10 points but his decision-making under OKC's pressure remains the secondary storyline of this series after the bench depth.

San Antonio now trails 1-2 in a series where they took their best shot in Game 1 and got a double-overtime win, had their two guards injured in Game 2, got them back for Game 3, and still couldn't absorb OKC's bench. The statistical history favors the Thunder from here. But the Spurs have Wembanyama, home court for Game 4 Sunday, and recent evidence that they can win when healthy and operating correctly.

OKC leads series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday in San Antonio.

OKC 123 · SAS 108

The Western Conference Finals is producing exactly the collision it promised. Wembanyama against the most complete roster in basketball. A young San Antonio team that can win when all of their guard creation is available. An Oklahoma City bench that has now set franchise records for bench scoring and established itself as the primary difference-maker in the games OKC has controlled. The series has not been decided. But the shape of how it gets decided is now visible.

Both conference finals are 2-1 in Oklahoma City's and New York's favor. The teams with the deepest rosters, the most balanced scoring, and the most experienced closing lineups are winning. The Knicks have done it with nine straight wins and starting five combinations that combine for 96-point collective performances. The Thunder have done it by sending waves of contributors that opposing teams cannot account for across 48 minutes. Against Wembanyama's ceiling, OKC keeps answering with depth. Against New York's structure, Cleveland keeps hitting the same fourth-quarter wall. The second games in San Antonio and Cleveland this weekend will tell us whether either lower-seeded team has found an answer.

Stud of the Day: Jared McCain, Oklahoma City Thunder - 24 points off the bench, a postseason career high, in a game the Thunder trailed by 15 before the shot clock had reset twice. He was part of the decisive second-quarter run that erased a five-point deficit and gave OKC a lead they never lost. McCain and Jaylin Williams combined for 42 points off the bench. Their collective performance is the reason this Thunder team is different from every other roster left in the playoffs.

Dud of the Night: San Antonio Spurs (team) - They built a 15-0 lead, the longest to open a conference finals game since 1997, and still lost by 15. When Wembanyama rests, OKC's bench scores 76 points. San Antonio has no structural answer to that problem as currently constructed. They need Wembanyama to play more minutes, their guards to create more with him on the floor, and their own bench to be something other than a 23-point afterthought. None of those adjustments are simple. All of them are necessary.