Sparked by Alex Caruso, the Thunder bench steps up again in Game 5 win

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Alex Caruso sparked another big effort from the bench Tuesday night. And he’s a big reason the Thunder are on the verge of returning to the NBA Finals.

Caruso scored 22 points and was 4 of 8 on 3-pointers to help Oklahoma City — down two starters — to a 127-114 victory over San Antonio in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

“We have good players on our bench. They’ve got good players on their bench,” Caruso said. “So, we know that’s an area of the game where you can try to find some positive plus-minus time for that group.”

The bench rotation wasn’t the same for the Thunder in Game 5; Jared McCain moved into the starting lineup and scored 20 points. McCain scored 24 of Oklahoma City’s 76 bench points in a 123-108 win in Game 3 at San Antonio.

Instead, Oklahoma City got eight points off the bench from Kenrich Williams, who made both 3s he attempted, and seven points from Cason Wallace. The Thunder outscored the Spurs by 29 points in Wallace’s 31 minutes.

“I think we’ve just gone a good job, whoever it’s been — and it’s been a lot of different people during the series, a couple of guys that have been consistently there,” said Caruso, who added six assists. That group, I think … has just done a great job of competing through those minutes.”

After five games, the Thunder bench is outscoring San Antonio’s reserves 257-127.

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