After dropping Games 2 and 3, Sunday’s Game 4 wasn’t quite a must-win for the Spurs, but it was close. While we’ve seen a pair of 3–1 comebacks in these NBA playoffs already, doing so against the defending champion Thunder is likely a bridge too far, even for this very talented San Antonio squad.
Not only did the Spurs get the win that they really needed on Sunday, but they did so in style. San Antonio opened up a big early lead, and while Oklahoma City chipped away early, the Spurs regained momentum to close out the first half, with Victor Wembanyama burying an incredible half-court buzzer beater to give San Antonio a 12-point edge at the break.
From there, the Spurs did something that seemed unthinkable—they caused the Thunder to quit. Wemby & Co. outscored OKC 28–22 in the third quarter, and the fourth quarter was largely trivial, as San Antonio cruised to a 103–82 victory.
How did the Spurs pull off such a dominant Game 4 victory, and what does it mean for the Western Conference finals moving forward? Here are Sports Illustrated’s four takeaways from San Antonio’s impressive win.
Victor Wembanyama took over from the jump
Wembanyama had one of his best games of the postseason on Sunday night, and it wasn’t just his numbers; it was his impact. The 22-year-old finished with 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and three blocks in 31 minutes. He was everywhere for the Spurs in a game the team badly needed. He set the tone early, and it carried until the final buzzer.
San Antonio led 28–19 after the first quarter and never really looked back. Wembanyama was outstanding in the opening 12 minutes, as he led all scorers with 11 points, while adding three assists and a steal. He added 11 more points in the second quarter, including an incredible half-court shot as the half expired.
WEMBY BEATS THE Q2 BUZZER FROM HALF-COURT 👽
— NBA (@NBA) May 25, 2026
22 PTS
5 REB
3 AST
2 BLK
Spurs lead by 12 at the break in Game 4! pic.twitter.com/Uk9BhEMNO1
Wembanyama struggled in Game 2 and Game 3 as the Thunder were much more physical with him than in the opening game of the series. He put up solid numbers, but had a much tougher time getting them. Game 4 was different. In a flip from the previous two games, on Sunday night, Wembanyama dictated the terms, and the Thunder had to be reactive. His performance flipped the series on its head.
Wemby was the guy the Spurs needed exactly when they needed him.
Stephon Castle bounces back
Like Wembanyama, Stephon Castle had been having issues with the Thunder’s defense. In Game 2, he scored 25 points, with five rebounds and eight assists, but he had nine turnovers and was 1-for-6 from three-point range. In Game 3, he was limited to 14 points and was 1-for-8 from the field, though he did clean up the turnovers. He was much better in Game 4.
Castle finished Sunday’s game with 13 points, three rebounds, six assists, one steal and a block. He was 5-for-11 from the field and only turned the ball over once. He was steady all game and had several highlight plays, including a gorgeous finish on a lob from Dylan Harper, and a behind-the-back pass to Wembanyama for a dunk.
DEV STEAL. SLASH BROS LOB. LET'S GOOOOO.
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) May 25, 2026
📺 NBC | Peacock pic.twitter.com/Mrsw5Coddx
just screamed Go Spurs Go so loud 🗣️
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) May 25, 2026
📺 NBC | Peacock pic.twitter.com/eiiQYdAHN3
He was a human highlight reel, while also playing excellent defense. He finished the game with a plus/minus of +25 in 30 minutes of action. He was part of a balanced scoring effort after Wembanyama’s 33. Devin Vassell also had 13, while De’Aaron Fox chipped in with 12 and seven other Spurs scored points.
That’s the kind of performance San Antonio needs from Castle if it plans on winning this series.
A disastrous shooting performance from Oklahoma City
The Thunder shot just 33% from the floor and connected on only six of its 33 three-point attempts (18.2%) in the Game 4 loss on Sunday. Jared McCain was the sparkplug for the Thunder in Game 3 with 24 points off the bench, but he struggled on Sunday with just four points while shooting 1-for-10 from the field. He missed all five of the three-pointers he took. It wasn’t just McCain as Aaron Wiggins was 2-for-11 with four points in 21 minutes, and Cason Wallace—who entered the starting lineup with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell sidelined—had just five points in 21 minutes. Luguentz Dort struggled with foul trouble, but he took just two shots and finished with two points. He’s not out there for offense, but that lack of production hurts the group with Williams and Mitchell out.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had an off night by his standards with 19 points and seven assists while shooting 6-of-15. That’s reminiscent of his slow start in Game 1, which the Spurs took in two overtimes off Wembanyama’s massive 41-point night. That says a lot about San Antonio’s defense, but the defending champs were certainly off the mark collectively in Game 4. If Chet Holmgren is going to be limited by Wembanyama’s defense in the paint, the Thunder’s supporting cast needs to step up because Gilgeous-Alexander can’t do it all by himself.
In Game 1, Oklahoma City stayed in it thanks to 31 points from Alex Caruso and Gilgeous-Alexander getting going late in the game. That was a playoff career-high for Caruso, which Oklahoma City won’t get every night. There’s pressure on Mark Daigneault’s depth pieces to produce nightly, with the need to connect on easy attempts at a high rate with the force San Antonio has near the rim.
The Thunder miss Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell sorely
Fox is back for San Antonio, but Oklahoma City is now working without both Williams and Mitchell, which hurt the defending champs in a big way during Game 4. Williams hasn’t played since Game 2 with a hamstring injury. He’s considered day-to-day, and the Thunder missed his services for six playoff games before the current absence from Game 3 of the team’s first-round series against the Suns through its second-round sweep of the Lakers.
When Williams was out for the entirety of Oklahoma City’s Western Conference semifinals series, Mitchell stepped up as the second scorer to Gilgeous-Alexander. In the sweep of the Lakers, he averaged 22.5 points over the four games and dropped 28 points in the closeout game. In Game 3, he was debatably the best player on the floor with 24 points and 10 assists. With Williams’s return for the Western Conference finals, Mitchell’s role was minimized, but the additional absence brought room for him to bring the scoring the Thunder needed once again. Unfortunately for Oklahoma City, he was ruled out of Game 4 with a calf strain.
Mitchell started seven of the Thunder’s 11 playoff games he was available for and had the opportunity to make an eighth start in Sunday’s Game 4 before the injury. Cason Wallace started instead, and he finished with only five points on 2-for-8 shooting in 21 minutes.
Injuries have played a big part in this series, with Fox’s absence leading to an enormous number of turnovers from Castle due to his increased ball-handling responsibilities. Fox’s return brushed the injury bug off of San Antonio, but now it has bitten Oklahoma City in this dog fight of a Western Conference finals.
Miss Sunday’s game? Catch up on all of the action from the Spurs’ statement win 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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