Victor Wembanyama scored a game-high 33 points, and the San Antonio Spurs’ defense smothered the Oklahoma City Thunder throughout a dominant 103-82 win in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Sunday.San Antonio evened the series at 2-2 after leading by as many as 25 points. The Spurs took the lead for good at 9-8 with less than eight minutes left in the first quarter.Wembanyama added eight rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and two steals. De’Aaron Fox scored 12 points and added 10 rebounds and five assists for the Spurs.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 19 points and seven assists, but the reigning MVP made only 6 of 15 shots and committed four of Oklahoma City’s 17 turnovers. Oklahoma City played Game 4 without star forward Jalen Williams (left hamstring) and Ajay Mitchell (right calf strain).The Thunder’s points total and field goal percentage (33 percent) marked their lowest outputs in any game this season.Here are some takeaways with Game 5 set for Tuesday in Oklahoma City.Proper adjustments made for Wemby, SpursWembanyama said the Spurs would find out what they were made of after Game 3. He didn’t leave any room for interpretation in Game 4.
Wembanyama was ferocious throughout the night. He put his stamp on the game from the first tip and played with a sense of purpose and aggression he hadn’t shown in the past two games. The Spurs reoriented their defense to take away a lot of his long closeouts, saving him more energy to attack the rack on offense.The Spurs’ game plan adjustment of no longer high-trapping Gilgeous-Alexander and instead letting the nearby helpers collapse on him at the nail shut down the Thunder offense. San Antonio no longer is gambling on giving up wide-open 3s repeatedly, and that has made the game more predictable for the team. The Thunder crossed the 50-point threshold with 3:28 left in the game, which is shocking. At that point, the Thunder were just 2 of 17 from deep after having a great shooting night in Game 3.In the end, the Spurs showed they can shift their approach enough to keep up with the adjustment battle — and they didn’t even need a good shooting game to do it (38.9 percent shooting). This is a defensive series, and the Spurs further punctuated that Sunday evening.Now that they have a good formula for covering the MVP, they may have some real solutions to eventually take this series. And, of course, Wembanyama showed everyone what he and his team are made of. — Jared Weiss, Spurs writerA disastrous night for the ThunderAll things considered, this was objectively the Thunder’s worst game of these playoffs by a mile.Entering Game 4, Oklahoma City’s worst 3-point shooting game of the postseason came in Game 1 of its first-round series versus the Phoenix Suns, making a forgettable 30.4 percent of their 46 3-point attempts. On Sunday, it connected on an abysmal 18.2 percent from deep, just 6 of 33. The Thunder also had 20 turnovers.After an astonishing 76 bench points in Game 3, they entered the fourth quarter of a blowout with just 34 points from their reserves. Jared McCain and Jaylin Williams, after being monumental parts of a Game 3 win, combined to shoot 2 for 17.Just one of these mishaps would’ve made Sunday night difficult. But all of them? A disaster. — Joel Lorenzi, Thunder writer May 25, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
