From The Sports Desk: Thunder strike

NBAFrom The Sports Desk: Thunder strikeThe Thunder evened the NBA’s Western Conference Finals with a 122-113 win against the Spurs at home. We recap that, plus look at the Montreal Grand Prix.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drives to the basket as San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle defends during the third quarter during game two of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center.ImagesBrett Rojo / Imagn ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 21, 2026, 3:40 PM EDTBy Rohan Nadkarni, Sahil Kapur and Greg RosensteinWe’re officially in the middle of an all-time great Western Conference Finals. We’ll recap that, plus look ahead to Formula 1’s Montreal Grand Prix. We also feature Iran soccer star Mehdi Taremi as today’s World Cup spotlight player.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.NBA PlayoffsThe hotly contested Western Conference Finals are now tied 1-1 after the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 122-113 last night. After losing its first game of the postseason, OKC received a championship response from MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 30 points to go along with four rebounds and nine assists.The unsung hero for the Thunder, however, was center Isaiah Hartenstein. After playing only 12 minutes in Game 1, Hartenstein played 27 in Game 2. He also played an incredibly physical defense on San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama, using every grab, hold and push in the book to make life miserable for the Spurs big man. Wemby still finished with a remarkable stat line — 21 points, 17 rebounds and four assists — but he labored through a game he wasn’t able to dominate.“I’m just kind of one of those players that brings physicality to the game,” said Hartenstein, who also scored 10 points — including a couple of floaters over an outstretched Wemby — and collected 13 rebounds. “I think that’s just ki...