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SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama walked off the court Sunday evening subtly but methodically pumping his fist, a contented look on his face.
The Spurs big man was feeling good.
Safe to say, all of San Antonio was.
Spurs 103, Thunder 82.
On a night Oklahoma City had a chance to take complete control of the Western Conference finals, the Thunder got coal in its stocking instead. Got socks and underwear for its birthday. Got cleaning supplies for Mother’s Day.
This was a complete and total clunker.
No one in the Thunder locker room felt good about what happened in Game 4.
But if you’re looking for a silver lining — and who in the 405 isn’t? — it’s that the Thunder got the split in San Antonio, taking back home-court advantage and turning this into a best-of-three series with two of those games in Oklahoma City.
MUSSATTO: Thunder can beat Spurs without Jalen Williams or Ajay Mitchell. But without both?
I asked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander if there was any solace in that.
“I mean, it’s a fact,” he said. “The series is 2-2 and basically 0-0, and it’s first to two games now.
“It’s not at the front of my mind, but it is a fact, and it is the reality.”
Now, that fact doesn’t fix the reality that is most problematic for the Thunder as the series shifts back to Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. Injuries to Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell have left the Thunder woefully short on playmakers and shot creators. Basically, the list is down to one: SGA.
OKC has to do something about that, or home-court advantage won’t mean anything.
Still, if you’d have put truth serum into everyone inside the Thunder locker room before Game 3 and asked them if they’d take a split in San Antonio regardless of the circumstances, they’d have taken it in a heartbeat.
When you lose home-court advantage in the first two games of a best-of-seven series, you can’t be choosy about how you get it back.
Lose both of the next two games on the road, and you’re flirting with disaster.
This two-game road trip wasn’t a disaster.
But think how different this series would feel if the two games were swapped. Flip what happened Friday in Game 3 with what happened Sunday in Game 4, and OKC is heading home feeling great.
REPORT CARD: Give Spurs fans credit for creativity with fake Oscar for SGA, Thunder
Going home for Game 5 on the heels of a win is what the Thunder did last season after series-opening losses to Denver and Indiana. Like the Game 1 loss to San Antonio, those were gut punches. But then, after winning Game 2 at home and losing Game 3 on the road, the Thunder won Game 4. That meant OKC returned home not only with home-court advantage but also with momentum.
There will be no momentum this time.
“I think the biggest thing is we can’t rely on it being our best day to win basketball games,” Thunder big man Chet Holmgren said. “We gotta figure out how to do whatever the game calls for for us to win games.
“We didn’t do it tonight.”
But …
“We’ve done it in the past. We’ve had games where things didn’t go our way or shots weren’t falling, whatever it might be. We still figured out how to win the game, and that’s what we have to do.”
This Thunder bunch did it a year ago. Remember Game 3 in the Western Conference finals at Minnesota? Or Game 6 of the NBA Finals at Indiana? Woof. Even though OKC won both of those series, those games were dogs.
OKC has had playoff clunkers before.
“Thank you,” OKC coach Mark Daigneault retorted when I mentioned that fact in his postgame press conference. “Thanks for reminding me.”
Well, the Thunder reminded us all.
Seriously, though, even though OKC won the title a year ago, it didn’t win every game. Didn’t play great every night either.
But in the end, the Thunder did win it all.
“I think we’ve got some wisdom there,” Daigneault admitted. “Even from these playoffs.”
TAKEAWAYS: Wembanyama, Spurs smash Thunder in Game 4, even up Western Conference Finals
After losing that double-overtime heartbreaker in the opener, OKC won the next two.
“We went and earned those two wins,” Daigneault continued, “and none of that carried over tonight, and nothing from tonight will carry over in Game 5, so that’s a blank slate. We have the same exact opportunity that they do to go get that game.
“We’ve got to win the gaps between the game right now. We gotta get recovered, get ourselves mentally back to zero, learn the lessons from tonight that we can apply moving forward and get ourselves ready to go.”
That zero-and-zero-mentality talk is a staple among the Thunder, and while it might cause eyes to roll at how often Daigneault and his players say such things, these are the times when it comes in handy.
“I think it comes in handy no matter what, every single game,” Holmgren contended. “There’s a lot more emotions to a big win, big loss or really hard-fought close game. The kind of in-between ones don’t have quite as much emotion to them, but no matter what, you still got to get back to level.”
Level is where this series is.
Maybe it feels like the Spurs have the advantage after Game 4, but didn’t it feel just the opposite 48 hours earlier after Game 3?
“Whether you win or lose, you want to learn lessons from the game,” SGA said. “When you lose, they’re a little bit louder. The lessons are a little bit louder. … You want to learn through the wins, but sometimes you’re losing, and you’ve got to get better.
“In a series, that’s what it’s about, getting better … and giving yourself a chance.”
The Thunder has given itself a chance.
What OKC does with it remains to be seen.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at [email protected]. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Thunder just need to protect home court vs Spurs to reach NBA Finals
Continue reading...
The Spurs big man was feeling good.
Safe to say, all of San Antonio was.
Spurs 103, Thunder 82.
On a night Oklahoma City had a chance to take complete control of the Western Conference finals, the Thunder got coal in its stocking instead. Got socks and underwear for its birthday. Got cleaning supplies for Mother’s Day.
This was a complete and total clunker.
No one in the Thunder locker room felt good about what happened in Game 4.
But if you’re looking for a silver lining — and who in the 405 isn’t? — it’s that the Thunder got the split in San Antonio, taking back home-court advantage and turning this into a best-of-three series with two of those games in Oklahoma City.
MUSSATTO: Thunder can beat Spurs without Jalen Williams or Ajay Mitchell. But without both?
I asked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander if there was any solace in that.
“I mean, it’s a fact,” he said. “The series is 2-2 and basically 0-0, and it’s first to two games now.
“It’s not at the front of my mind, but it is a fact, and it is the reality.”
Now, that fact doesn’t fix the reality that is most problematic for the Thunder as the series shifts back to Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. Injuries to Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell have left the Thunder woefully short on playmakers and shot creators. Basically, the list is down to one: SGA.
OKC has to do something about that, or home-court advantage won’t mean anything.
Still, if you’d have put truth serum into everyone inside the Thunder locker room before Game 3 and asked them if they’d take a split in San Antonio regardless of the circumstances, they’d have taken it in a heartbeat.
When you lose home-court advantage in the first two games of a best-of-seven series, you can’t be choosy about how you get it back.
Lose both of the next two games on the road, and you’re flirting with disaster.
This two-game road trip wasn’t a disaster.
But think how different this series would feel if the two games were swapped. Flip what happened Friday in Game 3 with what happened Sunday in Game 4, and OKC is heading home feeling great.
REPORT CARD: Give Spurs fans credit for creativity with fake Oscar for SGA, Thunder
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Going home for Game 5 on the heels of a win is what the Thunder did last season after series-opening losses to Denver and Indiana. Like the Game 1 loss to San Antonio, those were gut punches. But then, after winning Game 2 at home and losing Game 3 on the road, the Thunder won Game 4. That meant OKC returned home not only with home-court advantage but also with momentum.
There will be no momentum this time.
“I think the biggest thing is we can’t rely on it being our best day to win basketball games,” Thunder big man Chet Holmgren said. “We gotta figure out how to do whatever the game calls for for us to win games.
“We didn’t do it tonight.”
But …
“We’ve done it in the past. We’ve had games where things didn’t go our way or shots weren’t falling, whatever it might be. We still figured out how to win the game, and that’s what we have to do.”
This Thunder bunch did it a year ago. Remember Game 3 in the Western Conference finals at Minnesota? Or Game 6 of the NBA Finals at Indiana? Woof. Even though OKC won both of those series, those games were dogs.
OKC has had playoff clunkers before.
“Thank you,” OKC coach Mark Daigneault retorted when I mentioned that fact in his postgame press conference. “Thanks for reminding me.”
Well, the Thunder reminded us all.
Seriously, though, even though OKC won the title a year ago, it didn’t win every game. Didn’t play great every night either.
But in the end, the Thunder did win it all.
“I think we’ve got some wisdom there,” Daigneault admitted. “Even from these playoffs.”
TAKEAWAYS: Wembanyama, Spurs smash Thunder in Game 4, even up Western Conference Finals
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After losing that double-overtime heartbreaker in the opener, OKC won the next two.
“We went and earned those two wins,” Daigneault continued, “and none of that carried over tonight, and nothing from tonight will carry over in Game 5, so that’s a blank slate. We have the same exact opportunity that they do to go get that game.
“We’ve got to win the gaps between the game right now. We gotta get recovered, get ourselves mentally back to zero, learn the lessons from tonight that we can apply moving forward and get ourselves ready to go.”
That zero-and-zero-mentality talk is a staple among the Thunder, and while it might cause eyes to roll at how often Daigneault and his players say such things, these are the times when it comes in handy.
“I think it comes in handy no matter what, every single game,” Holmgren contended. “There’s a lot more emotions to a big win, big loss or really hard-fought close game. The kind of in-between ones don’t have quite as much emotion to them, but no matter what, you still got to get back to level.”
Level is where this series is.
Maybe it feels like the Spurs have the advantage after Game 4, but didn’t it feel just the opposite 48 hours earlier after Game 3?
“Whether you win or lose, you want to learn lessons from the game,” SGA said. “When you lose, they’re a little bit louder. The lessons are a little bit louder. … You want to learn through the wins, but sometimes you’re losing, and you’ve got to get better.
“In a series, that’s what it’s about, getting better … and giving yourself a chance.”
The Thunder has given itself a chance.
What OKC does with it remains to be seen.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at [email protected]. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Thunder just need to protect home court vs Spurs to reach NBA Finals
Continue reading...
