Oklahoma City evened the Western Conference Finals at 1-1 on Wednesday night with a Game 2 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, but on Thursday's edition of The Herd, Colin Cowherd argued the bigger picture had quietly tilted further against the top seed. Three takeaways, he said, framed his read of the series — and only one of them was good for the defending No. 1 seed.
The first was the injury list. Jalen "JDub" Williams, OKC's second-leading scorer, aggravated a hamstring during Game 2. Reserve guard AJ Mitchell strained a quad late. De'Aaron Fox is still less than fully healthy, and Spurs rookie Dylan Harper — whom Cowherd called the best rookie guard since Magic Johnson — is dealing with his own injury that the host suggested "may decide the finals."
"Oklahoma City is built deepest team in the league to overcome injuries more than any other team. But they're going to become now very SGA reliant. AJ Mitchell have been a great spark plug. JDub gives you 20 with his eyes closed. And last night SGA delivered, but against the Spurs defense, it is less than ideal. That's bad," Cowherd said.
His second concern was officiating math. OKC leaned on physical, grabby coverage to slow Victor Wembanyama in Game 2, with Isaiah Hartenstein picking up three first-half fouls that Cowherd believes would have been doubled on the road. He drew a direct comparison to a famously physical Utah Jazz era under Jerry Sloan.
"Hartenstein last night, you could have had seven fouls, and they're going to call every one of those. Hack-a-Shaq always worked way better when Shaq was on the road," Cowherd said. He added that Adam Silver would not allow the league's emerging face to be treated that way game after game. "You're not going to let, by the way, a 7-foot-4 guy and we're all concerned about his health long term anyway. You're not going to let people hang on him. No commissioner is going to do that."
The third takeaway concerned the Spurs themselves — but in a way Cowherd argued cut against OKC. Stephon Castle has flashed star-level moments through two games, but the host pushed back on the idea that he can run the team in Harper's absence.
"Stephon Castle is a great player. He is a bully defensively, he's competitive, he had 18 points. But what he isn't is a point guard. He doesn't have a tight enough handle. He's very loose. And when it comes to point guards and quarterbacks, it's all in the details, and he just is not a point guard. He's a great two or a three. He's an ascending star. He's not a point guard," Cowherd said.
If Harper cannot return, Cowherd believes, San Antonio's half-court guard play tips. If he can, Cowherd kept the structural read intact: the Spurs have shot it better, scored more in the paint, and rostered the best player in the series.
"OKC essentially won on points via turnovers. They had 27. That was the game — the game was on the turnovers. If they don't get at least De'Aaron Fox back, they're in trouble. And nobody wants to hear this. San Antonio's been the better team — better field goal percentage, better three-point percentage. They have the best player in the series, points in the paint. Oklahoma City is looking up," Cowherd said.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who delivered down the stretch in Game 2, offered the kind of measured postgame line Cowherd has come to expect from the MVP frontrunner.
"It's nothing special that you can do. Every team has their identity, and when they impose their identity more than the other team does, they usually win. We were probably more desperate than they were, just naturally, because we had to get this game or else we go on the road down 0-2. Nonetheless, you still have to go out there and do the job," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
The series resumes in San Antonio for Game 3, with Cowherd betting Harper's status — not Wembanyama's foul count — will be the lever that decides who reaches the Finals.
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*Originally published on [NBA News Global](https://nbanews.global/article/colin-cowherd-thunder-in-trouble-wembanyama-okc-injuries-jdub-castle-may-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
