Thunder get 76 points off bench in Game 3 win vs. Spurs - ESPN

Down 15-0 to the San Antonio Spurs, not even three minutes into Game 3 of the Western Conference finals Friday night, Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault quickly went to his bench.

And everything changed in an instant, a harbinger of what was to come.

The Oklahoma City bench keeps getting better in these Western Conference finals — and, with all respect to MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the backups are the reason the Thunder are two wins from a return to the NBA Finals.

The Thunder got 50 points from their reserves in Game 1, then 57 in Game 2 — and on Friday, the bench mob struck again, scoring 76 points and keying Oklahoma City's 123-108 win over San Antonio for a 2-1 series lead.

«We assume the opponent's always at their best and we need to be at ours and depth is a part of that.… It just needs to be one of our strengths that we rely on, regardless of circumstance,» Daigneault said.

The 76 bench points were the most by a team in a conference finals game since the NBA went to the 16-team playoff format in 1984. The previous mark was 69 by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1985. Only two Thunder starters scored in double figures — Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points and Chet Holmgren had 14.

The bench more than made up for that.

Jared McCain scored a playoff-career-high 24 points for the Thunder. Forward Jaylin Williams, with Thunder guard Jalen Williams out because of left hamstring issues again — hit five 3-pointers and finished with a playoff-career-high 18 points. And Alex Caruso had 15 points, giving him 63 in this series; that's the best three-game scoring span of his career.

«I like proving my support system right,» said McCain, a midseason pickup in a trade with Philadelphia. «The people who really believe in me, I