Oklahoma City vs. San Antonio Game 4: Spurs win in a blowout, 103-82, to tie series at 2-2

This was the game Spurs fans wanted to see, a masterpiece from Victor Wembanyama (33 points) and the intense defense they had seen all season shutting down the Thunder offense.

This was a 21-point game from the middle of the second quarter on and there was no drama at the end. Wembanyama finished with 33 points and eight boards, plus the game-changing 3-point buzzer beater just before half that seemed to change the momentum of the night.

The Western Conference Finals is tied 2-2 and now heads back to Oklahoma City for what will be a critical Game 5.

Both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama went to the bench and we’re not going to see them again in this one. It is all but over and the Spurs will have evened the series.

This game feels over, but you can expect the Thunder to make one more push. However, in an every-other-day series, at some point Mark Daigneault will start to prioritize rest.

Victor Wembanyama has 31 points on 10-of-21 shooting and 3-of-7 from deep, with seven rebounds. Both Devin Vassell and Stephon Castle have 13.

Gilgeous-Alexander has 19 for OKC, Hartenstein 12, and they are the only players in double-digits as the Thunder are shooing 31% for the game.

Another stat you can credit to the Spurs defense or the Thunder’s off night, depending on your perspective: OKC is 6-of-32 on shots out of the paint.

The Spurs are playing with desperation. The Thunder are without two of their primary shot creators and ball handlers due to injuries.

All of that is turning this game into a blowout, with the Spurs leading 65-43 with 7:17 remaining. San Antonio started the third quarter on a 15-5 run.

It’s a quick 7-3 run for the Spurs to begin the third quarter and they have their largest lead of the series at 16.

Here are just some things of note from the first half.

• The Spurs only lost the non-Wembanyama minutes by four in the first half (and were +16 in the ones he played).
• The Thunder may be shooting just 36%, but the Spurs are at 37% overall, however, they are 5-of-16 from 3 — that’s 12 more points from beyond the arc in a 12-point game.
• San Antonio is leaving a lot of points at the free-throw line. While Wembanyama is 6-of-6, the rest of the Spurs are 3-of-10.
• Cason Wallace, pushed into the starting lineup with Williams and Mitchell out injured, is 1-of-7 from the floor.
• Jared McCain, he of the 24 points in Game 3, is 0-of-7 from the floor in the first half.
• OKC’s bench is 2-of-15 overall and 1-of-9 from 3-point range.
• San Antonio’s bench has outscored Oklahoma City’s 8-6. Not exactly impressive from either side, but with the way this series has gone that’s a huge win for the Spurs.
• The Spurs have 7 fast break points to the Thunder’s zero.

Victor Wembanyama has been dominant thus far in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. The Spurs phenom recorded 22 points, five rebounds, three assists, one steal, two blocks and two three-pointers to help San Antonio take a 50-38 lead into the locker room.

And Wemby capped the half in style, knocking down a half-court shot as time expired to extend San Antonio’s lead.

Victor Wembanyama called for the ball in the backcourt, and then did this.

That gives the Spurs a 12-point lead, 50-38, at the half.

The real difference in this game has been the Spurs’ defense, which has bodied up and flustered the Thunder and has them shooting 37% overall and 1-of-10 from 3-point range. The OKC bench that changed Game 3 is 2-of-15 from the floor in Game 4.

San Antonio has doubled Shai Gilgeous-Alexander less this game — or at least less early in the clock — but he has not really adjusted and has 8 points on 3-of-9 shooting.

It’s 40-32 Spurs with 2:48 left in the first half.

Victor Wembanyama is up to 17 points and the Spurs hold their lead, but are not pulling away in what is a very physical, defensive game.

San Antonio has cranked up their defensive pressure, and this is where Oklahoma City really miss having Jalen Williams (hamstring) and Ajay Mitchell (calf) as secondary ball handlers who can handle this better and settle down the offense.

The Thunder are 11-of-33 from the floor so far in this game with five turnovers. They look flustered and trail by 9.

San Antonio’s defense has been very active to start the game, and held the Thunder to 36% shooting overall and 1-of-5 from 3-point range. However, the difference early in Game 4 is that they are turning those opportunities into buckets on the other end of the court.

San Antonio leads 28-19 after one. Victor Wembanyama leads the Thunder with 11 points, and coach Mitch Johnson realizes what happens when he sits, so he barely did in the first (and the Spurs were -2 in the two minutes he sat). Devin Vassell has six for San Antonio on a couple of 3s.

Hartenstein, with his eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, all floaters, leads OKC, which went deeper into its bench with Aaron Wiggins and Kenrich Williams getting run.

Another fast start for the Spurs at home.

San Antonio is on a 14-0 run in the middle of the first quarter and leads 21-8 with 4:39 left in the first quarter.

OKC’s Isaiah Hartenstein started 4-of-4 on high-paint floaters, but the rest of the Spurs started 0-of-6 from the floor and had two shots blocked.

In the opening possessions of the game, Chet Holmgren decided to challenge Victor Wembanyama at the rim. He choose.... poorly.

Spurs lead 13-8 with 6:13 left in the first quarter.

With Jalen Williams (hamstring) and Ajay Mitchell (calf) unavailable for Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder turn to Wallace to fill the void.

Yet to start a game in these playoffs, the third-year guard made 58 starts during the regular season. In those appearances, Wallace averaged 9.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 28.3 minutes, shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 79.6 percent from the foul line.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein complete Oklahoma City’s starting five.

San Antonio sticks with its usual starting five of De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie and Victor Wembanyama.

The All-NBA teams were announced on Sunday, and unsurprisingly the two stars who led their teams to this moment — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama — were named First Team All-NBA.

Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren made the Third Team.

No other Spurs made the list, although it’s a safe bet that Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper will change that in years to come.

Injured during Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams will not play in Sunday’s Game 4.

He initially injured his hamstring during the Thunder’s first-round series against Phoenix, missing six games before returning for Game 1 of the conference finals.

With Ajay Mitchell (calf) also out, the Thunder will have to look elsewhere for their fifth starter on Sunday. Whether they start or not, Alex Caruso and Jared McCain will figure prominently in the rotation as Oklahoma City looks to take a 3-1 series lead.

If there’s one thing to watch in Game 4, it may be the minutes Victor Wembanyama is on the bench.

It’s this simple: San Antonio is +21 in 125 minutes with Wembanyama on the court in the Western Conference Finals, and -38 in the 29 minutes he is off the court. Even in Game 4, a game the Thunder won by 15, the Spurs were +4 in the 39 minutes Wembanyama played (they lost the nine minutes he was out by 19 points).

Without him on the court, the Thunder attack the rim with far more aggression. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault has made sure to keep Gilgeous-Alexander on the court when Wembanyama is off, allowing the MVP to do his thing and get into the paint.

It’s a number to watch in Game 4. If the Spurs are going to even this series, they are going to have to at least limit the damage in those non-Wembanyama minutes.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his second consecutive MVP award this season. Victor Wembanyama became the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year ever.

When was the last time the MVP and DPOY faced off head-to-head in a Conference Finals or NBA Finals? It was 2009 when MVP LeBron James led the Cavaliers against DPOY Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic.

In what may be a good sign for the Spurs, Howard and the Magic won that series, only to go on and lose in the NBA Finals to the Kobe Bryant/Paul Gasol Lakers.

Despite the Game 4 loss (or maybe because they should be desperate), the Spurs are the favorites on Sunday in San Antonio. Here are the Game 4 odds, courtesy of our partners at DraftKings.

Game odds: Spurs -2.5
Moneyline: Spurs -148, Thunder +124
Over/Under: 219.5

This has been an intense series with high levels of play on both ends of the court. How did we get to this point? Let’s take a look back.

Game 1 was the best game of these playoffs, a double-overtime thriller that the Spurs won because Wembanyama looked like the best player on the planet with 41 points and 24 rebounds, including some epic shots and moments.

Oklahoma City bounced back in Game 2 behind 30 points from Gilgeous-Alexander, but also a big game from Isaiah Hartenstein as a physical defender on Wembanyama, keeping him in relative check. It was enough for a comfortable win.

As the series has gone on, Gilgeous-Alexander has gotten more comfortable against the Spurs’ pressure, and while he hasn’t shot a high percentage, he’s setting up teammates, and the Thunder offense is clicking. Well, not so much their starters in Game 3, the Spurs raced out to a 15-0 lead, but the Thunder walked them down behind 24 points from Jared McCain, who led an OKC bench with 76 points for the game. That gave the Thunder the win and the 2-1 series lead.