The San Antonio Spurs are one loss away from elimination after a 127-114 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, and head coach Mitch Johnson did not hide where he believed things unraveled.
After San Antonio’s dominant defensive effort in Game 4, Johnson pointed to breakdowns across nearly every possession as the Thunder regained control of the series and moved ahead 3-2 on Tuesday night at Paycom Center.
“It just felt like it was a little bit of everything in terms of we did not put ourselves in position enough to be successful on each possession,” Johnson said postgame. “And so to beat a team of this caliber in their building with the stakes we need to be a lot better to give yourself a chance.”
The Thunder, who were held to 82 points in Game 4, nearly matched that output before the third quarter was halfway over. Oklahoma City scored 40 points in the second quarter and finished with 127 behind 32 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 22 from Alex Caruso and 20 from rookie guard Jared McCain in his first playoff start.
Johnson repeatedly returned to San Antonio’s defensive execution, especially during the second quarter when the Thunder built separation.
“There were a lot of things that we were just in wrong positions or wrong coverages or poor decisions which I’ll have to go back and look at the film,” Johnson said. “It just felt like in the moment we’d been making consistently in a straightforward manner.”
He added: “Again on a game like tonight you give yourself no chance if that’s the level that you’re going to play consistently for the 48 minutes.”
San Antonio still had offensive production from Stephon Castle, who scored 24 points, and Julian Champagnie, who added 22. But Johnson made clear the Spurs need more involvement from franchise centerpiece Victor Wembanyama.
Wembanyama finished with 20 points but shot 4-for-15 from the field, relying heavily on a 12-for-12 night at the free-throw line.
“We’re going to need to,” Johnson said when asked whether the Spurs must do more to get Wembanyama going. “He’s got to take more than 15 shots even with the free throws. And he’s going to have to score more than 20 points for sure.”
Johnson said responsibility falls on both the coaching staff and Wembanyama himself.
“Combination of both for sure,” he said. “OKC did a good job. We got to do a better job.”
The Spurs coach also pointed to decision-making in key moments, saying the Thunder capitalized on mistakes and unnecessary fouls after San Antonio had held Oklahoma City to only 82 points two days earlier.
“In this type of game you got to be sure of everything you’re doing in a very secure mature way,” Johnson said.
He later highlighted how discipline slipped during a whistle-heavy second quarter, when both teams combined to make 29 free throws.
“We need to be more aware of when we’re in the bonus,” Johnson said. “If you give the ref the opportunity to call it and now someone gets free throws and didn’t really have to work to get to that … that’s where numbers can get big for giving up points in a quarter.”
Johnson also revealed officials told him they “didn’t see me” when he tried to signal for a challenge during a tense third-quarter sequence that left the Spurs frustrated.
Game 6 shifts to San Antonio on Thursday, where the Spurs must win to force a deciding Game 7 and keep their season alive.
