Victor Wembanyama led the San Antonio Spurs to a dominant 103-84 victory in Game 4 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, tying the series at 2-2. The Thunder’s offense was completely shut down throughout the game.
This was evident right from the start of the game. Unlike in previous games, the Spurs no longer double-teamed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, which resulted in significantly less space for the OKC offense. At the same time, the Spurs defended with the same energy as at the start of Game 3 and allowed almost no space—except for Isaiah Hartenstein. As a result, the German was the only Thunder player to score points (8, 4/4 FG) until the 3:22 mark (!) of the first quarter.
On the other side, Victor Wembanyama was much more aggressive from the start than in previous games. He demanded the ball, made good decisions, and led his team on an early 16-0 run that put them up by double digits in the first quarter. That was strongly reminiscent of the start of Game 3, just like the Thunder’s subsequent 10-0 run that brought them back within striking distance. That was the extent of the parallels to Game 3, however.
With the SGA double-team absent, the Thunder’s shooters were rarely open and never found their rhythm; the historic bench performance from Game 3 was virtually nonexistent in the first half. It was also telling that Alex Caruso didn’t take a single shot. Instead, the Thunder turned the ball over far too often and missed everything from the outside (1-for-11 in the first half). The Spurs did much better on the other end and went into the break up by 12 thanks to a Wemby buzzer-beater from the midcourt line. As a result, the Frenchman already had 22 points at halftime.
San Antonio Spurs dominate after the break
After the break, Mitch Johnson’s team picked up right where they left off. They played outstanding defense across the board, forced turnovers (17 in total), dominated the paint (50 to 36 points), and scored plenty of easy points in transition. A dunk by Wembanyama put them up by 18 shortly after the break, and they were leading by 25 just a short time later—the largest lead of the entire series.
Although they struggled from downtown themselves (27.3 percent), they managed to quickly nip any OKC run in the bud, no matter how small, and gave the visitors hardly any breathing room with their defense (10 blocks, 11 steals). Since they committed hardly any turnovers themselves (12), they were able to comfortably hold on to the victory in the final minutes. SGA didn’t even play at all in the fourth quarter. The 84 points on the scoreboard were the Thunder’s lowest total of the entire playoffs and the second-lowest overall, behind only the Rockets (81).
With 19 points, the MVP was still his team’s leading scorer, but he shot just 6-for-15 from the field and committed four turnovers, though he also dished out seven assists. Hartenstein was the second-leading scorer with 12 points, while Chet Holmgren added 10 points and nine rebounds. Caruso went scoreless, and Jared McCain managed a meager four points.
For the Spurs, Wemby was the top scorer with 33 points (11-of-22 FG, 3-of-7 3-pointers) in 31 minutes; he also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out five assists, blocked three shots, and stole the ball twice. His plus-minus of +29 was also the best on his team. Devin Vassell and Stephon Castle each contributed 13 points, while De’Aaron Fox posted a nice double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds).
After the series was tied, it returned to Oklahoma City, where the crucial Game 5 will take place Wednesday night (2:30 a.m. German time).
