Gilgeous-Alexander leads Thunder past Spurs for 2-1 NBA playoff lead

Reigning NBA champions see four members of their bench finish in double figures to set up the precious road win.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder survived an early onslaught to score a 123-108 victory over the San Antonio Spurs and take a 2-1 lead in their NBA-western-conference-finals" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="127908" data-entity-type="event">NBA Western Conference Finals series.Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander led another dominant all-around offensive performance on Friday by the reigning NBA champions, who saw four members of their bench finish in double figures to set up the precious road win.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Five key talking points for the Premier League season finalelist 2 of 4From Palestine to Catalonia, Guardiola believed in more than just footballlist 3 of 4US says DRC team must isolate due to Ebola before arriving for World Cuplist 4 of 4Players accuse Grand Slams of ignoring concerns as tensions rise in Parisend of listJared McCain led the Thunder bench scorers with 24 points while Jaylin Williams drained five three-pointers in an 18-point contribution.French player Victor Wembanyama led the San Antonio scoring with 26 points, while Devin Vassell added 20.Thunder coach Mark Daigneault praised his team’s “poise” after climbing out of an early 15-point deficit to eventually close out a convincing win by the same margin.“It was a punch – credit to them,” Daigneault said of San Antonio’s fast start. “They were ready to play and they got us early. But I thought we showed great poise to understand the 48-minute nature of the game.“It’s a long game obviously and the bench gave us a huge lift right there to help us get the game into a manageable spot. Great poise by the team.”Another pulsating clash between the Western Conference rivals got off to a breathless start, with the Spurs roaring into a 15-0 lead within minutes of tip-off.A shellshocked Thunder lineup quickly regrouped and punched back to close the gap to 31-29 early in the second quarter before a brilliant Gilgeous-Alexander three-pointer handed the visitors the lead.