San Antonio avoided losing three games in a row for the first time all season and routed Oklahoma City 103-82 in a Game 4 blowout. The Spurs earned and built upon their advantage by staying home on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander defensively and depriving his teammates of open looks throughout many minutes of hellacious fullcourt coverage. San Antonio better shepherded their possessions tonight, while making life very difficult for Oklahoma City, as they were held to 33% shooting overall and 6-for-33 from
three.
The Spurs received a far more complete effort in game 4 that they glaringly lacked in the previous two games. Wembanyama (33 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks) and Castle (13 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds) found a timely third contributor in Devin Vassell (13 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists). The team’s ailing point guards – De’Aaron Fox (12 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists) and Dylan Harper (7 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists) looked no worse for the wear and steadied the Spur attack. San Antonio also benefitted from spirited bench minutes – in just the right dosages by Coach Johnson – from veterans Luke Kornet (6 points and 7 rebounds), Harrison Barnes (5 points and 3 rebounds) and Keldon Johnson (6 points and 3 rebounds).
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (19 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 turnovers) and Isaiah Harteinstein (12 points and 7 rebounds) paced Oklahoma City in defeat tonight. Chet Holmgren (10 points and 9 rebounds) competed capably in the first half. The Thunder’s vaunted bench production (16 points) was far muted than in Games 1-3.
San Antonio leapt ahead again in the opening frame, but in a vastly different manner than game 3, they were able to harrass the Thunder players into numerous forced looks. All of Oklahoma City’s offense – over the first 8+ minutes – came from none other than Hartenstein. The Spurs pieced together a 14-0 run spanning the middle minutes in the frame, and Oklahoma City could not find any open airspace for their shooters. Gilgeous-Alexander broke a nearly nine minute non-Hartenstein drought with a jumper, and then meekly fell to the floor on a Fox contest a minute later. A 5-0 burst brought the Thunder to within nine with Wembanyama (11) and Vassell (6) almost matching OKC’s total.
San Antonio played arguably its finest defense in this series so far over several sequences to start the second period. Unfortunately their offense could not match that excellence (5-for-23 in the first 10+ minutes), and Harteinstein continued to add to his team-leading total with a floater and dunk. San Antonio continued to squander handfuls of possessions, and Holmgren kept his team within three possessions with free throws and second-chance tips. With the Thunder continuing to hover close, Vassell’s jumper and Wembanyama’s buzzer-beating 47-footer extended San Antonio’s lead to 12.
A 7-0 run featuring Area 51 forced Dort to the bench with his fourth foul and put Oklahoma City down 16 early in the third quarter. Castle found Wembanyama in transition for a near free throw line dunk to put the Spurs back up 18. Harper rewarded Castle for his efforts with a rim-rattling lob to grow the lead to 22. Oklahoma City’s offense looked ever-so-slightly flustered. But even though the Thunder stayed under 50 points for 3/4 of the period, they were able to slice the deficit to 60-78 going to the fourth.
Observations
- The Dirk Nowitzki ‘let’s go home’ sequence: Harper, after dribbling an head-scratching 15 seconds on the perimeter, split two defenders, and thre down a monstrous slam on Jaylin Williams to make it 92-70.
- After Harteinstein bearhugged Wembanyama on an early loose ball, Scott Foster flew in from midcourt to call the foul on Harteinstein.
- Just as I was about to type “Julian Champagnie might shoot us out of this series, (9-for-28 after the first quarter for the series)” he did an upfake and drove it right to the rim for a layup. He’s going to need to turn into Bruce Bowen 2.0 over these next 2-3 games to justify his playing time.
- Reggie Miller – referencing San Antonio’s other rookie – called him ‘Bryant Carter’ pregame.
- It’s not just the foul merchant stuff on the offensive end, but when Gilgeous-Alexander stood up Vassell as he went upcourt on the dribble late in the half, the Spurs guard (6’5” / 195 lb) stayed upright, while the MVP (6’6” /195 lb) crumpled into a heap.
- My three sisters met up in San Antonio to go to game 4 in honor of dad. My mom (out of nowhere) said we lost game 3 because wer’re ‘too comfortable.’ We truly are a Spurs family now.
- Sequence of the Game #1: 90 seconds into game action and during what looked like yet another OKC second chance bucket, Wembanyama met Holmgren at the rim and turned away his dunk try.
- Sequence of the Game #2: During the Spurs’ 14-0 run in the first, Vassell looked like he might get beat for a reverse lay-up, but erased McCain’s attempt, and took it downcourt and fed Wembanyama for a lob slam.
- Sequence of the Game #3: To close the first half, Castle doggedly grabbed a rebound away from Jaylin Williams, and the ball ended up in Wembanyama’s hands – who knocked down a Curry-like pull-up from half court.
- Sequence of the Game #4: Partway through the third period, Vassell, after stealing an errant Holmgren pass, fed it to a streaking Harper – who (while completely neglecting the franchise superstar) tossed a soaring lob to Castle to make it 75-53.
Game Rundown
The teams’ centers traded buckets from the opening tip. While Wembanyama played well off of him, Harteinstein surprisingly added two more floaters. Castle connected on a contested jumper and spoonfed a lob to Wembanyama. Shockingly, Harteinstein’s fourth pop-a-shot put the Thunder up one. After Champagnie failed to convert several long-distance attempts, he drove deep into the paint for a lay-up. Nearly five minutes in, the three big OKC bench contributors (Caruso, Jaylin Williams, and McCain) from game 3 were inserted, but it was Johnson who immediately deflected two passes and willed home a shot over Williams. Castle and Vassell’s catch-and-shoot threes put the Spurs up 19-8. Vassell deflected the ball away on one Thunder possession, and Castle forced Holmgren to dribble the ball off of his foot on another. San Antonio’s offense stalled out a bit near the end of the stanza; yet they left it still up 28-19.
Isaiah Joe’s and-1 finished a 10-0 Thunder run spanning the first and second quarters. Harper drew Holmgren’s and Caruso’s second fouls in succession. But San Antonio concerningly missed free throws (8-for-15 at one point). Kornet’s second field goal put the Spurs up nine, which was answered by Harteinstein’s FIFTH FLOATER. San Antonio then forced a shotclock violation and unforced turnover – both on Gilgeous-Alexander. Coach Daigneault’s challenge on the latter sequence was upheld and Oklahoma City lost the ability to pose any more challenges. Barnes drew Lu Dort’s third foul halfway through the period, which put San Antonio into the foul bonus, too; Mr. 100%‘s hustle either extended San Antonio possessions or prevented the Thunder from leaking out in transition. Harper forced yet another Gilgeous-Alexander turnover, and Wembanyama drew Caruso’s third foul at the other end. Vassell’s shotclock beating fadeaway was outdone by Wembanyama’s audacious pull-up jumper from halfcourt to make it 50-38.
Wembanyama started the third by answering Cason Wallace’s three with an emphatic and-1 lob over Hartenstein and Dort, and Castle powered through Thunder defenders for a pair of lay-ups. Wembanyama (on Hartenstein) and Castle (on Wallace) combined to swat away two more shots to force another OKC shotclock violation. Vassell’s free throws put the Spurs up 25. Bryant committed a charge, and then inexplicably fouled McCain 40 feet from the basket #rookiemistakes. The Thunder finally passed 50 points 9 1/2 minutes into the quarter as part of 7-0 run. Kenrich William’s two triples negated Wembanyama’s microburst, and the Spurs went to the fourth up 18.
