The Oklahoma City Thunder bench scored a historic 76 points to power a 123-108 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night, May 22, 2026, taking a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Oklahoma City overcame an early 15-0 deficit at the Frost Bank Center after head coach Mark Daigneault substituted his starting lineup less than three minutes into the first quarter.
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According to ESPN, the 76 reserve points established a new record for the most bench points in a conference finals game since the NBA adopted the 16-team playoff format in 1984.
The previous record of 69 points was set by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1985, with Oklahoma City's bench contributing 62% of the team's total scoring in the Game 3 victory.
Only two Thunder starters scored in double figures, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 26 points and Chet Holmgren added 14 points.
Jared McCain led the bench production with a playoff career-high 24 points, while forward Jaylin Williams made five 3-pointers to finish with a playoff career-high 18 points.
Alex Caruso added 15 points from the bench, bringing his three-game series total to 63 points, which marks the highest-scoring three-game span of his career.
The Spurs opened the game with a 15-0 scoring run, which stands as the longest game-opening run in the conference finals since play-by-play tracking began in 1997.
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De'Aaron Fox initiated the run with a driving layup in his series debut, followed by a Victor Wembanyama 3-pointer and a Devin Vassell 3-pointer that prompted an early timeout.
