It has been just two games, but the Western Conference finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder have turned into a battle of attrition.
The Spurs came into the series without starting point guard De’Aaron Fox, who suffered an ankle sprain in Game 4 of the conference semifinal series against Minnesota.
Heading into Game 3 Friday in San Antonio, with the series tied one game apiece, the Spurs also could be without rookie guard Dylan Harper.
Harper injured his right adductor muscle in the third quarter of Wednesday’s 122-113 loss in Game 2. Fox and Harper are listed as questionable for Game 3.
Oklahoma City looked like it was back to full health when Jalen Williams started Game 1 after missing the previous six games with a hamstring injury. But Williams left early in Game 2 on Wednesday after experiencing tightness in his left hamstring.
Williams missed extended time this season due to a pair of right hamstring injuries.
Oklahoma City was 39-10 without Williams during the regular season and won all six playoff games he missed. He is questionable for Friday.
“I still believe in this team,” said Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “… We played a bunch of games without (Williams). Won big games without him. But I still think we can get the job done. But yeah, losing a guy like that, a caliber of a player like that, no matter how good your team is otherwise, it hurts a little bit.”
Oklahoma City appears to have avoided a major injury to guard Ajay Mitchell, who started in place of Williams in those six playoff games and has been a major factor in the Thunder’s success.
Mitchell went down grabbing his leg in the final minute of Wednesday’s game, but said afterward that he would be ready to go for Game 3. He did not appear on the injury report Thursday.
Stephon Castle serves as a key cog for the youthful Spurs even when Fox and Harper are healthy. But without them, he becomes even more vital.
Castle averaged 21 points and 9.5 assists in the first two games of the series — but also averaged 10 turnovers.
“I think it’s more personal on my end, just really speeding myself up, not allowing our screeners to get hits,” Castle said. “So it’s putting me in a position where I have to play fast or my screener might get an offensive foul.”
San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said confidence in the 21-year-old Castle remains high.
“Obviously this team is as good as anybody at turning you over, so when you’re down some of your primary creators and initiators, it causes a little bit of extra strain,” Johnson said. “We’ll just have to be sharper in that area, because it’s tough enough fully loaded against these guys.”
Alex Caruso has been a major factor for the Thunder in the first two games, scoring 48 points in the first two games of the series after scoring 61 total in Oklahoma City’s first eight playoff games. He also has been central to the Thunder’s defensive plan.
“He’s just got an unbelievable focus, and he’s just a monster competitor,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. “It seems like the bigger the moment, the bigger the game, the more he wants to compete in it. And he’ll fail, you know, and not blink, and he’ll be aggressive in the next game.”
