From The Sports Desk: The Thunder’s role players are playing like stars in West finals

NBAFrom The Sports Desk: The Thunder’s role players are playing like stars in West finals Jared McCain and Alex Caruso have helped the Thunder take a 3-2 lead over San Antonio in the Western Conference finals. Also: Jude Bellingham is today’s World Cup spotlight. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jared McCain reacts after a basket during the fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs in game five of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center.Brett Rojo / Imagn ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 27, 2026, 3:00 PM EDTBy Rohan Nadkarni and Tim RohanForget the MVP finalists Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama. Everyone expected Jared McCain and Alex Caruso to shine in the Western Conference finals, right? Right?? Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Oklahoma City’s role players made all the difference last night in Game 5, and have throughout the series, as the Thunder have taken a 3-2 lead over the San Antonio Spurs. Our Rohan Nadkarni dives in. Also, England’s Jude Bellingham is our World Cup spotlight today.For more coverage, as always, check out the NBC News website. NBA PlayoffsThe Oklahoma City Thunder are one win away from reaching their second straight NBA Finals after beating the San Antonio Spurs 127-114 last night. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 in the win, and now the Thunder have a chance to close out the Spurs in San Antonio tomorrow.OKC’s depth has been a major factor in this series. The Thunder won despite missing injured All-Star forward Jalen Williams as well as guard Ajay Mitchell for the second straight game. Making his first playoff start, McCain scored 20 points. Meanwhile, Caruso, Kenrich Williams and Cason Wallace combined to score 37 off the bench.“I never take it for granted when someone steps into a role like that in a game like this,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said of McCain. “I’m certainly not surprised. He’s got great moxie and confid...