Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26 points) leads the Thunder to a third straight victory over the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.
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SAN ANTONIO – Operating on little sleep, as befits a coach seeking a second straight NBA championship, Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault met with reporters Saturday morning.
It was at the Thunder team hotel, in a unique library room surrounded by a diverse collection of titles: Under the Texas Sun: Adventures of a Young Cowboy; Western Water Simplified; The ranch that was us; Organic Compound Data Manual; and maps of paradise.
It was about 12 hours after he left the Frost Bank Center with his Thunder up 2-1 following Friday’s 123-108 victory against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.
He attended a team dinner after the game, met with his parents and “then I watched the movie last night,” Daigneault said. “I usually watch film the night of the game. I’m usually pretty nervous after the game anyway.”
The start of the game could have provided nightmares, as the Spurs took a 15-0 lead. From that point on, however, it was all Thunder (a rare 123-93 run) and Daigneault was able to rest easier before waking up and preparing for Game 4 on Sunday.
“We had a big win last night, and you know, in Game 4, you’re really going to have to earn it if you want to get that game,” Daigneault said, “and then the gears just start turning on that.”
Here are three things to watch in Game 4 on Sunday in San Antonio (8 ET, NBC/Peacock).
1. What can Wembanyama contribute in the fourth game?
The Thunder beat the Spurs, 123-108, in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
The Thunder won’t be so presumptuous as to think they’ve discovered something against Victor Wembanyama. To begin with, that would be reckless. Also in the series, the Spurs have a positive net rating when Wembanyama is on the court, scoring 114.2 points and allowing 108 points per 100 possessions.
The problem is that the Spurs can’t keep him on the court the entire game and the Thunder are crushing him in non-Wembanyama minutes. In the nine minutes Wembanyama was on the bench in Game 3, the Thunder outscored the Spurs 35-16, including 15-5 in the first quarter and 9-0 in the second quarter.
“We can’t play him 48 minutes, so you can’t lose by 20 in those minutes,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “There’s a combination of who we play, what we execute, what the game plan is during that time, and I have to make sure I help that group, and the group that Victor is in there has to be better as well.”
Wembanyama still scored 26 points in Game 3, but there have been diminishing returns in certain areas of his production. Let’s start with the rebounds. He had 24 rebounds in Game 1, 17 in Game 2 and four in Game 3, including nine offensive rebounds followed by five followed by zero. His paint points have dropped from 26 in the Spurs’ series-opening win to 10 paint points in each of the two losses.
In other words, the Thunder are doing a decent job of making sure Wembanyama doesn’t dominate the paint, especially with easy dunks.
Oklahoma City has had success defending him with multiple defenders, including Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren (first-team all-defensive selection this season) and Jaylin Williams. According to NBA data, a different Thunder player has spent the most time in Wembanyama in each game.
It’s different players, different looks and different physical levels in an attempt to wear down Wembanyama.
“Vic creates our advantages for us more than anyone,” Johnson said. “That’s pretty easy to watch. The way we’ve executed those leads throughout the season has been with our three guards (De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper) primarily having the ball in their hands. To be frank, those guys aren’t 100% right now.
“So we have to adapt without changing the way we play, but understanding how we can continue to take advantage of those things… We have to continue to evolve and that is what happens in a chess game and they have made some good adjustments.”
2. Thunder enjoys success on the road
The Thunder remain undefeated on the road in the playoffs (5-0) and are now 10-5 in road playoff games over the past two seasons.
“It’s hard to win playoff games on the road,” Daigneault said. “As you saw last night, it took all of our best efforts to win that game the way we did last night. And it still wasn’t easy even though it was a 15-point win. It’s a challenge. You don’t graduate to that. It’s going to be just as tough (Sunday) night.”
In five road playoff games this season, the Thunder give up more points than at home, but they also score more points on the road than at home.
A road win in Game 4 would put the Thunder up 3-1 in the series and send them back to Oklahoma City for a chance to close out. That would ensure a return to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive season.
“You have to have presence of mind, emotional regulation and the ability to overcome distractions and execute with poise and confidence,” Daigneault said. “And this team has that, and that grows the more you’re in situations and this team has done a great job of that.”
3. A deeper look at the Thunder’s deep bench
Jared McCain (22 points) and Jaylin Williams (18 points) scored playoff career highs as the Thunder’s bench propels them to victory.
This bench statistic is generating discussion: Oklahoma City’s bench has outscored San Antonio’s bench 183-64 in the series, including 76-23 in Game 3. The 76 points were the most a bench has scored in a conference finals game since the conference finals debuted in 1970-71.
They are astonishing figures.
Of the Thunder’s 47 three-pointers in three games, the bench has made 37 and is shooting 48.5% from the field and 44% on three-pointers. The Thunder’s reserves also accounted for 24 of the team’s 35 steals.
Alex Caruso scored a playoff career-high 31 points in Game 1, four non-starters reached double figures in points in Game 2 and Game 3, including 24 from Jared McCain and 18 from Jaylin Williams in Game 3. Williams is shooting 58.3% on 3-pointers.
Cason Wallace was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team on Friday and starts the game on the bench. He is averaging 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals and shooting 50% from the field.
“We have a lot of guys we trust,” Daigneault said. “We also play in a way that requires a lot of energy. We play with a lot of pressure. We provide a lot of help, which puts us in longer closeouts. We want to be a great transition defense team… We want to break the offensive glass. Everything we want to do that gives you the best chance to win requires energy and there are different ways to do it.
“You can try to condition eight guys to do that, and that can be successful. But when you have a team as deep as ours, we choose to deploy those guys and keep fresh legs on the floor.”
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here, and follow him on X.
