NBA Basketball BETTING PREVIEW - San Antonio Spurs @ Oklahoma City Thunder

NBA Basketball

2026-05-26 - San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder

A Sports Betting Preview by FirstDown

San Antonio Spurs @ Oklahoma City Thunder
United States : NBA Basketball Playoffs Western Conference Finals Game 5
Tuesday 26th May 2026 - Scheduled 8:30pm EST
1:30am (British Time)

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Preview

Victor Wembanyama was hugely critical of himself after the Game 3 loss at home and he came out in Game 4 looking to make a statement for the San Antonio Spurs.

For the second time in the Western Conference Finals, Victor Wembanyama decided to take over a game and for the second time the Spurs won to level up the Series before heading back to the home of the defending Champions.

Game 4 adjustments saw the Spurs move away from double-teaming Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and force the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar to get the ball out of his hands.

This time the Spurs looked comfortable allowing different players to challenge the regular season MVP and make sure they were not going to allow the Thunder shooters to spot up and make uncontested shots. With both Ajay Mitchell and Jalen Williams out of the rotation, the Spurs clearly believed they could take whatever Shai-Gilgeous Alexander was able to put together and would simply make others miss.

It worked- the Thunder had four players contribute at least 10 points from the bench in Game 3, but that was reduced to just two in Game 4, while the contested shots meant the Thunder moved from 17 three pointers in Game 3 to just 6 last time out.

Expecting little reaction from the Oklahoma City Thunder would be a mistake and there will be adjustments made by the defending Champions in what feels like a hugely important Game 5 for both of these teams.

The blowout might actually not be a bad thing for either team in Game 4- after the Double Overtime of Game 1, that blowout has allowed the key players to have significantly less time on the court last time out and that can only be a positive, but for both teams.

There has to be a concern in the home ranks that they are losing those players who can handle the ball in place of SGA, but this is a team that has overcome adversity time and time again over the last eighteen months. That experience can help with just a day of rest between games again, while being back home should be more comfortable for the role players who struggled all around in Game 4.

San Antonio fans will want to see Wemby continue to dominate, but they will also feel there is room for improvement from the three point range after a 27% effort in Game 4- some of the shooters were wide open playing off of Victor Wembanyama, but those shots need to start falling if the Spurs are going to earn the upset.

If they are going to reach the NBA Finals, the Spurs need another win on the road and this Game 5 will feel like a really good time to do that.

Historically Game 5 of the Conference Finals has been dominated by the higher Seeds and the favourites, which is something that the Oklahoma City Thunder are in both categories ahead of this one. Teams that have lost Game 4 have also bounced back very well in Game 5, which all points to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but this may be a spread where we have to go against recent trends and back the San Antonio Spurs to cover.

An aggressive Victor Wembanyama will be needed for that to happen and the Spurs may have found something from their superstar in Game 4 that can carry over to this one and at least give the San Antonio Spurs a chance to cover, even if they cannot win outright.

Prediction

Take the points with the road underdog in what could be the pivotal game in this Western Conference Finals, which is tied at 2-2 coming into Game 5.

The Pick :

Oklahoma City Thunder 106-104 San Antonio Spurs

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back San Antonio Spurs + 5.5 Points at -110 with EveryGame Sports