Wembanyama powers – Victor Wembanyama delivered 33 points as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-82 on Sunday, May 24, tying the Western Conference finals 2-2 and avoiding an elimination situation.
San Antonio didn’t just win Game 4—it flipped the pressure back onto Oklahoma City.
In a pivotal Western Conference finals matchup on Sunday. May 24. the Spurs outclassed the Thunder 103-82 to tie the series at 2-2 and avoid falling into an elimination scenario. The rout felt less like a bounce-back and more like a statement: San Antonio held Oklahoma City to its lowest scoring output all season long.
The Thunder’s 82-point total was their lowest since December 2021, when they lost by 73 points against the Grizzlies and scored just 79. Even more stark, the lowest Oklahoma City had posted this season was 97 points in a January loss against the Hornets.
The game turned on one thing most of all: Victor Wembanyama showing up exactly when the Spurs needed someone to carry them.
With the threat of a 3-1 series deficit looming, Wembanyama was sensational in the first half. He scored 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting, hauled in 5 rebounds, dished 3 assists, and swatted away 2 blocks. He didn’t just score—he organized.
He was vocal as a leader, communicating with teammates and coaches, playing inside and out, attacking the rim, and using his range to hit outside shots. He finished the night with 33 points on 11-of-22 shooting, adding 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks.
The Thunder, crucially, had no answer for that version of Wembanyama.
That left Oklahoma City searching for rhythm and ball-handling structure—especially with injuries already reshaping their lineup. Jalen Williams has missed a ton of time this season with hamstring injuries. Ajay Mitchell’s right soleus strain also popped up in Game 3.
Because Mitchell started games recently that Williams missed. the Thunder leaned on the overlap in ball-handling and the outlets they provide—ways to generate offense when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander faces double-teams. But Sunday night, with those extra bodies thrown at their key creators, the Thunder offense stalled.
Gilgeous-Alexander did find passing lanes—he dished out 7 assists in Game 4—but the next closest players managed only 3 each: Isaiah Hartenstein and Kenrick Williams.
Defensively, San Antonio looked like the team that can win a series this tight.
The Spurs were more forceful throughout, using active hands to deflect balls and swipe steals, while staying disciplined. They didn’t fall for the bait that Oklahoma City so often uses to dupe defenders into foul trouble.
And once the defense started producing stops, it became offense. Midway through the first, the Spurs strung together seven consecutive missed shots by the Thunder, which sparked a 16-0 San Antonio run.
They also attacked Gilgeous-Alexander with full-court pressure, throwing extra bodies at him and pickying him up so every possession felt harder than it should have been.
San Antonio’s defensive intensity bled into the numbers. In the first half, the Thunder shot 35.6%, then finished the game at 33.0%.
Shooting—especially from beyond the arc—finished the story.
Oklahoma City came into Sunday night’s game shooting 39.5% in this series from 3-point range, with 47 made 3-pointers. But in the first half, the Thunder made just 1 of 11 attempts from 3 (9.1%). The rest of the game didn’t correct the problem: Oklahoma City finished 6 of 33 from 3-point range (18.2%).
Jared McCain went 0 of 5, and Alex Caruso attempted just one 3-pointer. With the night going sideways, that one missed too.
San Antonio also made sure the Thunder couldn’t rely on their comfort zone.
The Spurs clearly wanted to get out on fastbreaks. It fit the matchup: the Thunder are the premier half-court defensive team in the association, so anything that prevents them from settling into set defense makes San Antonio’s job easier—especially for entry into the paint.
It showed. San Antonio took a 10-0 advantage on fastbreak points into the half and finished with an 18-7 edge in fastbreak points.
They also dominated points off turnovers, outscoring Oklahoma City 25-13.
Mark Daigneault, once again, tried to find a spark through his bench.
The Thunder are the deepest team in the NBA. and when the offense struggled early from the floor. Daigneault turned to reserves to change the pace. In the first half, eleven players recorded minutes. That type of rotation isn’t uncommon for Oklahoma City in this series. but this time the group didn’t provide the lift.
Earlier in the series, Alex Caruso had posted monster games to carry the bench. Yet on Sunday, the Thunder reserves scored just 6 points in the first half, compared with 8 from the Spurs bench.
By the end of the game, the totals flipped in Oklahoma City’s favor—34-30—but that was shaped by Daigneault pulling his starters early. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t play a single second in the fourth quarter.
With the series now tied 2-2, the Western Conference finals swings back into balance—built on Wembanyama’s night, a defensive performance that bottled up Oklahoma City’s scoring, and a Spurs team that made every Thunder possession feel contested from the first whistle to the last shot.
San Antonio Spurs Oklahoma City Thunder Victor Wembanyama Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Western Conference Finals NBA playoffs Jalen Williams injury Ajay Mitchell injury Mark Daigneault