The San Antonio Spurs blew past the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-82 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, pulling the series level at 2-2 and setting up a decisive Game 5 on Tuesday at 8 ET on NBC and Peacock.
Victor Wembanyama delivered the kind of line that can swing a series. He finished with 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals, powering San Antonio back after Oklahoma City had slowed him down in Games 2 and 3. In the opener, he had already produced a game for the ages. This time, he answered with another reminder that the Spurs can still bend the matchup around him.
That matters because the Thunder and Spurs entered this series with the league's two best defenses from the regular season, Oklahoma City at No. 1 and San Antonio at No. 3, and both teams arrived here after winning 60-plus games. The Western Conference Finals has played like what it is: a meeting of two elite teams that keep making each other adjust. One night, the Thunder find a way to bottle up Wembanyama. The next, San Antonio finds a crack somewhere else.
Chet Holmgren has been part of that swing. He is shooting 33.3% in Oklahoma City's two losses in the conference finals and 58.8% in its two victories, a split that mirrors how sharply the series has changed from game to game. The Thunder also had one of the better defensive games in the league all season, but they could not keep the Spurs from breaking free in Game 4 once Wembanyama got rolling.
San Antonio's defense has been strong enough to keep this from turning into a track meet, and the Spurs have leaned on that edge throughout the matchup. Wembanyama's resume also keeps growing. He won his first Kia Defensive Player of the Year award and was unanimously named to the All-Defensive First Team, while teammate Stephon Castle just missed the All-Defensive second team. On the other side, Holmgren made the All-Defensive First Team and Cason Wallace landed on the second team.
Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said the lesson for his group was simple: the previous game does not carry forward, good or bad. The Thunder won the last two before Game 4. Then they got hit with a lopsided loss that reset the series and erased any sense of momentum. Tuesday's Game 5 now becomes the pivot point. Both teams have already shown they can land a punch. The next one may decide who gets to control the rest of the run.
