Did the Spurs win? Yes — and Victor Wembanyama made sure the answer was clear from the opening minutes. The Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-82 in Game 4 on Sunday night to tie the series, using a fast start and a relentless second half to erase the pressure of a playoff hole that had threatened to grow deeper.
Wembanyama scored 33 points, and San Antonio led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter before stretching the margin to 12 at the break. He ended the first half with a half-court 3-pointer that sent the Spurs into intermission with control of the game and left the Thunder trying to recover from a night that never settled into their rhythm. The win prevented Oklahoma City from taking a 3-1 series lead.
The result matters because it keeps San Antonio alive in a matchup it has already tested all season. The Spurs had beaten the Thunder six times in nine tries during the regular season, including the NBA Cup semifinal in December, and they finished just two games shy of the defending champions. That history helped frame Sunday’s performance as something more than a one-off hot shooting night. It was another reminder that a young Spurs team had already found ways to make Oklahoma City uncomfortable before the playoffs began.
That backdrop also explains why the Thunder could not simply count on playoff experience to carry them through. Oklahoma City had gone seven games against Denver in the second round last year and seven games again against Indiana in the finals, and it arrived with the look of a team that had already been hardened by long series. But San Antonio answered that reputation with pace, shot-making and a first half that belonged almost entirely to Wembanyama.
The tension in the series now shifts again. On Friday before Game 4, the Spurs had built a 15-0 lead in Game 3 before it vanished, a reminder that even strong starts do not guarantee control against Oklahoma City. This time, though, San Antonio finished the job. The question is no longer whether the Spurs can hang with the Thunder. After Sunday night, the question is whether Oklahoma City can regain command before the series turns again.
