Spurs Even Western Conference Finals at 2-2 With Huge Game 4 Win Over Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder entered Sunday night with a real chance to take a 3-1 series lead over the Spurs and effectively take command of the series, but the young San Antonio squad, led by Victor Wembanyama, proved to be poised and ready for the challenge.

In fact, the Spurs took an early lead in this contest just like they did in Game 3. This team’s ability to come out hot in front of its home crowd has been apparent, and this time, instead of letting the lead slip away, San Antonio ran with it and dominated this game really from start to finish.

And so now it is a 2-2 series heading back to OKC for Game 5.

It is now basically a three-game mini-series, with Oklahoma City having home-court advantage since two of those three potential games would be at Paycom Center. But from a health standpoint, the Spurs have a clear advantage. Jalen Williams is out, who is Oklahoma City’s second-best offensive player and second-best creator. Ajay Mitchell, who has emerged as the team’s third-best creator and playmaker, is also out with an injury.

That is a huge factor in all of this because San Antonio did not just win tonight. The Spurs took this series from feeling like it was close to over to feeling like they now have a very real shot to win it.

So now the Western Conference Finals are tied, and these next three games are going to decide everything. The winning team has to take two out of three, and nothing is going to be handed to either side.

That is what makes this so fascinating. It is Wembanyama versus Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, not only in a battle for who gets to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals, but in a matchup that feels like it is also helping define who the best player in the world might be moving forward.