The Spurs aren’t in must-win territory just yet, but it’s getting close. After a strong performance out of the gate in Game 1 had many wondering whether San Antonio truly has the Thunder’s number, the defending champion OKC has responded in impressive fashion with wins in Games 2 and 3. Luckily for the Spurs, Victor Wembanyama has answered the bell so far in Game 4.
Down 2–1 in the series is San Antonio’s turn to prove its meddle against the league’s best team. And the Spurs need their elite big man to play like the MVP that he believes he deserves to be once again. After he watched Shai Gilgeous-Alexander receive the coveted award in person on Monday, Wemby had the game of his very early life in Game 1, scoring 41 points with 24 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 49 minutes in a double-overtime victory.
Wembanyama hasn’t performed poorly by any stretch, but his last two games have been far less otherworldly: 21 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocks in Game 2 and 26 points but just four rebounds with three assists and two blocks in Game 3. Will SGA & Co. get the best of upstart San Antonio once again on Sunday night, or will Wemby’s Spurs find the answers they’ve been looking for over the last two games? So far, so good on Sunday for the Spurs. Stay glued here for our live updates, insights, highlights and other updates from Game 4 below.
NBA playoffs: Spurs vs. Thunder Game 4 halftime live updates, scores, stats
How did the Spurs, Thunder get here?
The Thunder—the defending NBA champions and the Western Conference No. 1 seed—absolutely cruised to the conference finals. OKC opened with a four-game sweep of the scrappy No. 8 seed Suns, before doing the same to the No. 4 Lakers, albeit the version that missed Luka Dončić for the balance of the regular season and entire postseason.
The Thunder have a 10–1 playoff record, with the 122–115 Game 1 loss to the Spurs as their only defeat. They've won by an average of 13.64 points per night and just three of their 10 wins have come by single digits. And they’ve been without Jalen Williams, arguably their second best player behind SGA, for much of the playoffs.
San Antonio was 4–1 in the regular season against OKC (including a win in the NBA Cup), and seemed well designed to do the same in the playoffs, should the Western Conference’s top two seeds make it that far. After a gentlemen’s sweep of the No. 7 Trail Blazers in five games, the Spurs got a solid challenge from the No. 6 Timberwolves, dropping two of the first four games of the series, including Game 1 in San Antonio.
The Spurs seemed to answer any questions about their youth, however, with blowout wins in Games 5 and 6, taking down banged-up Minnesota 126–97 at home and 139–109 on the road to clinch the series.
Coming back against a battle-tested Thunder squad presents an even bigger challenge. Winning Game 4 is paramount.
More NBA Playoffs From Sports Illustrated
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