SAN ANTONIO — Catching the ball just past the San Antonio bench in front of the scorer’s table, Victor Wembanyama needed only three dribbles before his feet hit the silver-and-black Spurs logo at center court.
From there, Wembanyama launched a shot that punctuated a hard-hitting first half that would power the Spurs to a 103-82 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 on Sunday, while changing the trajectory of the Western Conference finals.
Bang!
“I feel like with who we are, we need to start games like this,” Wembanyama said with the series tied at 2-2. “I was just thinking shoot to score. I wasn’t messing around.”
Wembanyama’s 40-foot first-half buzzer-beater was the longest field goal by a Spurs player in the playoffs since GeniusIQ started tracking in 2014. Most importantly, it built on the tone San Antonio set from the opening tip. Wembanyama dropped 33 points with eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks while setting the franchise record for most points (324) in a player’s first career postseason, besting Stephen Jackson’s record of 307 set in 2003.
Wembanyama also joined Bill Walton (1977) as the only players to tally 300 points, 150 rebounds and 50 blocks in their first career postseason since 1974, when blocks became an official statistic.
“I saw a lot and I’m not surprised,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “Our competitive response all year has been pretty good, and he’s been at the forefront of that more than not. Tonight, he felt, from my perspective, an obligation to set a tone for us in a variety of ways. The aggression was a reflection of that.”
In the aftermath of a blowout loss in Game 3, former Spurs coach Gregg Popovich addressed the team in the locker room, a first this season, according to veteran guard De’Aaron Fox. By the end of the night, when discussing tactics for combating Oklahoma City’s physicality, San Antonio talked about not only the desire to hit back, but the need to hit first.
“Every team gets blown out, but just mentalitywise, I think that was one of the worst games we had probably of the season,” Fox said. “Then, Pop came in after the game. He saw it, we all saw it. We all felt it. Coming into this game, we wanted to make sure that mentality was out the door. Even if we lost this game, as long as we came in with the right mentality and played the right way, we could be OK with losing the game. The way that we lost [Game 3] I think hurt more than losing the game, and that was pretty much for everybody in the locker room.”
OKC punched San Antonio in the mouth in Game 3, and the Spurs wanted to return the favor. They played at a breakneck pace to prevent the Thunder from consistently setting their defense, while setting more screens for one another to create opportunities.
Wembanyama also attacked aggressively, taking four shots in the first 3:19 while scoring or assisting on 17 points in the opening quarter. San Antonio made 10 field goals on 10 assists in the first quarter, marking only the fourth time this season it finished a quarter with an assist rate of 100%.
Over the first 7:41, Wembanyama single-handedly outscored Oklahoma City 11-8.
“That’s kind of what Vic does,” rookie guard Dylan Harper said. “He kind of steps into big moments. He’s never afraid of it. He loves that moment.”
Defensively, the Spurs used a by-committee approach to slow down two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with 19 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Stephon Castle took on the bulk of that responsibility with Fox, Harper, Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie taking turns with help from occasional double-teams bolstered by Wembanyama and Harrison Barnes.
San Antonio also stayed home on Oklahoma City’s shooters, resulting in the Thunder finishing 1-of-11 from deep in the first half. Oklahoma City had previously connected on one or fewer 3-pointers in a half only once this season (Jan. 7 against the Utah Jazz).
The Spurs held the Thunder scoreless in the first quarter for a span of 5:08 on the way to building a 25-point lead.
“We really paid attention to detail a lot better than Game 3,” Castle said. “Watching the film, we gave them a lot of straight-line drives and just not rotating how we practiced. [Hitting first] just feeds energy throughout the team, especially defensively being the point of attack. If I set the tone in the backcourt, my teammates are more likely to guard and play with that same kind of physicality throughout the possession.”
Wembanyama drilled a 27-footer just 24 seconds into the game to set the tone on offense, then did the same on the other end of the court one minute later by blocking a Chet Holmgren two-handed dunk attempt.
“We didn’t do nothing unexpected, but the truth is we had never been in this kind of situation before,” Wembanyma said. “It was our first deficit in a playoff series, and we just responded. But it was nothing amazing. It wasn’t magic. We just did what we needed to do. The series is far from over. We’ve got [to get] six more wins before we can rest.”
