three things – After a 123-108 Game 3 win that put the Thunder up 2-1, Sunday’s Game 4 in San Antonio (8 ET, NBC/Peacock) is being shaped by three pressure points: how Victor Wembanyama’s impact changes, whether Oklahoma City can keep its road steam, and why the Thunder’s be
SAN ANTONIO — Mark Daigneault didn’t exactly get the kind of sleep that lets a coach forget what happened the night before.
About 12 hours after he left Frost Bank Center with his Oklahoma City Thunder up 2-1 following Friday’s 123-108 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. Daigneault met with reporters Saturday morning at the Thunder team hotel. He looked tired in the way you look when you’ve been thinking about one thing nonstop — and then. still. you have to go back to work.
He’d attended a postgame team dinner, met with his parents, and said, “then I watched the film last night,” adding that he usually watches film the night of the game and that he’s “usually pretty wound up after the game anyways.”
In Game 3, the tone was set early. The Spurs opened with a 15-0 lead. After that. it changed direction fast: an unusual 123-93 run for the Thunder. taking Sunday’s Game 4 into the realm of “you have to earn it. ” not “you should be comfortable.” Daigneault put it plainly: “We had a great win last night. and you just know Game 4. you’re going to have to really earn it if you want to go get that game. ” and “the gears just start turning on that.”.
Here are three things to watch in Game 4 on Sunday in San Antonio (8 ET, NBC/Peacock).
Wembanyama’s next answer isn’t just about points
The Thunder’s 123-108 Game 3 win gave them a 2-1 series lead — and it also sharpened one question that won’t go away: what can Victor Wembanyama deliver in Game 4?
The Thunder aren’t about to treat anything as solved. Even in this series, the Spurs have a positive net rating when Wembanyama is on the court, scoring 114.2 points and allowing 108 points per 100 possessions.
But the series has also come down to one brutal split: when Wembanyama is off the floor, Oklahoma City has been overwhelming. In the nine minutes Wembanyama was on the bench in Game 3, the Thunder outscored the Spurs 35-16 — including a 15-5 first-quarter stretch and a 9-0 run in the second quarter.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said it that way too. “We can’t play him 48 minutes, so you can’t lose by 20 in those minutes,” Johnson said. “There’s a combination of who are we playing. what are we running. what’s the game plan during that time. and I’ve got to make sure I help that group. and the group when Victor’s in there has to be better. too.”.
Wembanyama finished with 26 points in Game 3, but some of the production numbers around him have been trending differently. His rebounding has dropped sharply: 24 rebounds in Game 1. 17 in Game 2. and four in Game 3. including nine offensive rebounds. followed by five. followed by zero. His paint points have also decreased — from 26 in the Spurs’ series-opening victory down to 10 paint points in each of the two losses.
The Thunder have made a clear choice in how they defend the paint, trying to limit the easiest paths for him, especially against dunk attempts.
Oklahoma City has defended him with multiple defenders, including Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren (first-team All-Defensive selection this season), and Jaylin Williams. According to NBA data, a different Thunder player each game has spent the most time on Wembanyama.
The point. Johnson said. is the chess match — and the Spurs’ need to execute advantages more cleanly even when the game tightens. “Vic creates our advantages for us more than anybody else,” Johnson said. “That’s very easy to observe. The way we execute those advantages throughout the season has been with our three guards (De’Aaron Fox. Stephon Castle. Dylan Harper) mostly with the basketball in their hands. Just being blunt, those guys aren’t 100% right now.”.
“So we have to adjust while not changing how we play but understanding how we can continue to take advantage of those things. … We have to continue to evolve and that’s what goes into being in a chess match and they’ve done some good adjustments.”
Road momentum is supposed to dry up. For Oklahoma City, it hasn’t
The Thunder are not just up 2-1. They’re arriving at Game 4 with momentum built on a place teams often struggle to control — the road.
Oklahoma City remains unbeaten on the road in the playoffs, moving to 5-0, and is now 10-5 in playoff road games over the past two seasons.
Daigneault described it as work that doesn’t let up. “It’s hard to win playoff games on the road,” he said. “As you saw last night. that took all of our best punch to win that game the way we did last night. And it still wasn’t easy despite the fact that it was a 15-point win. It’s challenging. You don’t graduate to it. It’s going to be just as hard (Sunday) night.”.
In those five road playoff games this season, the Thunder give up more points than at home — but they also score more points on the road than at home.
What happens next isn’t theoretical. A Thunder road win in Game 4 would put them up 3-1 in the series and send them back to Oklahoma City for a chance to close out, which would lock in a return to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive season.
Daigneault tied it to behavior as much as basketball. “You’ve got to have a presence of mind. emotional regulation and the ability to cut through distractions and execute with poise and confidence. ” he said. “And this team has that. and that does grow the more that you’re in the situations and this team’s done a great job of that.”.
The deep bench isn’t a sideshow — it’s a weapon
Game 3 didn’t just belong to Oklahoma City’s starters. It belonged to their bench, too.
Jared McCain (22 points) and Jaylin Williams (18 points) both scored playoff career-highs as the Thunder’s bench propelled them toward the win.
The bench numbers have been staggering enough to become part of the series conversation. Through three games, Oklahoma City’s bench has outscored San Antonio’s bench 183-64. In Game 3 alone, the Thunder’s bench outscored the Spurs 76-23.
The 76 points were the most a bench has scored in a conference finals game since the conference finals debuted in 1970-71.
Oklahoma City’s shooting off the bench has been a big part of that. Of the Thunder’s 47 3-pointers through three games, the bench has made 37. The bench has also been shooting 48.5% from the field and 44% from 3s. Thunder reserves have accounted for 24 of the team’s 35 steals.
That production has shown up in specific games in specific ways. Alex Caruso scored a playoff career-high 31 points in Game 1. In Game 2 and Game 3. four non-starters reached double-figures in points. including 24 points from Jared McCain and 18 points from Jaylin Williams in Game 3. Williams is shooting 58.3% on 3s.
Even when a key defender is not starting, the Thunder’s rotation still moves like it has a plan. Cason Wallace was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team on Friday, and he opens the game on the bench. He’s averaging 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.0 steals and shooting 50% from the field.
Daigneault explained the philosophy behind it: “We have a lot of guys that we trust,” he said. “We also play in a way that demands a lot of energy. We play with a lot of pressure. We provide a lot of help, which puts us in longer closeouts. We want to be a great transition defense team. … We want to crash the offensive glass. Everything we want to do that gives you the best chance to win requires energy and there’s different ways to do that.”.
“You can try to condition eight guys to doing that, and that can be successful. But when you have a team as deep as we are, we choose to deploy those guys and keep fresh legs on the court.”
Thunder Spurs Game 4 Mark Daigneault Victor Wembanyama Mitch Johnson Shai Gilgeous-Alexander NBA Western Conference Finals Oklahoma City Thunder road success Jared McCain Jaylin Williams Cason Wallace