Victor Wembanyama answered the Thunder’s adjustments with a game that tilted the Western Conference finals back to even. He scored 33 points, grabbed eight rebounds, handed out five assists, blocked three shots and made two steals as the Spurs beat Oklahoma City 103-82 in Game 4 to tie the series 2-2.
The performance mattered because it restored the balance in a matchup that has swung sharply from game to game, and because it came after Oklahoma City had blunted Wembanyama’s impact in Games 2 and 3 by limiting his touches at the rim. In the opener, he had produced a game for the ages. Then his production dropped. In Game 4, the Spurs found enough offense around him to make the Thunder pay.
Game 5 is set for Tuesday at 8 ET on NBC and Peacock, giving both teams a short window to reset after a night that exposed how little cushion there is between them. The series has now become a test of whether the Thunder can keep Wembanyama from living at the rim and whether the Spurs can sustain efficient offense when he is not carrying every possession.
Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said his team would not carry any of Game 4 into the next one, calling it a blank slate and saying both sides have the same chance to win Game 5. He also pointed to the way the Thunder spread the ball and said the global approach offensively did not benefit anybody, framing the loss as a five-man problem rather than something that rested on one player alone.
Chet Holmgren has had a difficult series on both ends of the court, and the split in his shooting numbers tracks the Thunder’s results. In Oklahoma City’s two losses in the conference finals, Holmgren is shooting 33.3%. In its two victories, he is shooting 58.8%.
The backdrop makes the swings more striking. The Thunder entered the series with the No. 1 defense from the regular season, while the Spurs had the No. 3 defense, and both teams won 60-plus games before meeting here. Wembanyama added another milestone this season when he won his first Kia Defensive Player of the Year award and was unanimously named to the All-Defensive First Team. Stephon Castle just missed the All-Defensive second team, while Holmgren made the first team and Cason Wallace was on the second team.
That defensive pedigree is part of why this series has felt like a chain of answers and counteranswers rather than a straight line. When Oklahoma City slowed Wembanyama in Games 2 and 3, it controlled the series. When the Spurs got him back to his full range in Game 4, they controlled the night. Tuesday’s Game 5 will decide which version lasts.
