The Spurs Can Finish the Banged-Up Thunder

We just watched, uh, on Sunday night, the San Antonio Spurs win the biggest game of the season, down 2-1 against Oklahoma City, and they smacked the Thunder around, winning by 20+ points, dominated this game from start to finish.

Like the Thunder's biggest lead was 1 point in the first quarter.

After that, it was a wrap.

Victor Wambayama knocked down a 43-footer at halftime to push the league double digits, and the Spurs.

Did not look back.

So let's start with the takeaways.

Um, what did you think of game 4?

Were you more impressed with the Spurs or disappointed in what you saw in Oklahoma City?

I was more impressed with the Spurs because the Spurs came out clearly showing they knew they could not fall down 3-1 to this Thunder team.

It is the opposite of what we saw in Cleveland in that game 3, and we will obviously get to that .

But the way the Spurs handled their position really impressed me, really from the moment they lost the previous game.

What they said in the postgame comments, uh, Victor told an interviewer at one point that they had spent, he goes, I think we all watch more film collectively between games 2 and 3 than we may have watched in our entire lives.

They clearly knew what they needed to do to get better for the next game.

And you and I have talked about this for a while, you know, earlier in the season, you asked me several times, you were like, are the Spurs too young?

Is Victor Wambayama too young to make a real run to the finals or even win it because you need experience, etc.

etc.

and my answer to you was always that kid's brain is like a computer, and I think that he will make mistakes, but by the next game, he will have learned to fix those mistakes and I feel that is exactly what we saw between games.

Also, look, they took advantage of.

Injuries on the Oklahoma City side.

They stopped guarding Shale Gildress Alexander High right after he crossed the midline.

That freed up them to basically decide, OK, make him commit to his drive, then we'll put bodies around him, then we'll bring help.

I thought that was a much murder strategy.

You know, and they fought for it.

I know that that talking about these vague sort of concepts sometimes doesn't fly in today's basketball analysis, but I still give a tremendous amount of importance to you will not beat me.

You are going to have to take this win out of my cold dead hands.

And I think it was what, with 8 minutes to go in the second quarter, I might be reversing this.

They were within 5, the Thunder, and the Spurs went on a 7-0 run.

And I, it's just, that is, you will not beat me tonight and I have a huge belief that in the playoffs, especially that matters.

I agree, um.

The Spurs in the regular season own the Thunder.

They won 4 of the 5 games.

2 of them weren't even close.

Um, they had a level of confidence coming in against Oklahoma City, and I think they kind of just got away from themselves in games 2 and 3.

I, I think what we saw in game 1 and what we saw in game 4 is more of a reflection of what this series probably should look like.

The injuries obviously are an issue.

You lose AJ Mitchell, you lose Jalen Williams.

I saw Brian Winhorst had a stat where it said that, The Thunder are 11 and 10 in games that both of those players have missed, so they miss those guys.

It's great as great as their depth is, um, you lose two of those key guys in your backcourt, you have some problems.

I look, I, there's a lot of talk about the adjustments the Spurs made.

I, I don't think it had.

Much to do with adjustments.

I, I just thought they upped their level of activity, they upped their level of connectivity.

Um, they played physical.

Just watch the Spurs.

Watch the Spurs even on the free throw line.

Like they're crashing.

They're, they're going after every single offensive free throw.

Like they're trying.

They're forcing the Thunder to work on every single possession.

They were playing physical every time.

They didn't trap quite as much.

That's true, but they, they, they just got back to executing kind of their base level stuff, like the stuff that was working for them.

In game one, I think Wemby said it after the game.

We trusted the game plan more and they did that in, in this game.

They got back to doing what they've been trying to do, uh, all series long.

I think it ultimately paid off.

Look, they're, they're just better.

Like they've been better during the regular season and when they've been played like themselves, they're better than them, uh, so far in the playoffs.

Now this game 5 coming up on Tuesday is gonna be, I'm headed to Oklahoma City on Tuesday morning .

I can't wait to get out there because it's gonna be electric in that building.

You know, that's, we know the stats.

The team that wins game 5, 60, 70%, whatever it is, they go on to win the series.

That is going to be an absolute war.

But I like San Antonio's chances of winning that game.

If, if they just stick with what they did in game one, what they got back to in game four, if they can continue on with that progression, they're just better right now.

They're the better team than Oklahoma City.

I wonder what happens in Oklahoma City's home court.

Alex Caruso has got to play better, right?

Chet is the big mystery if he can play better because if he can't, I think you're right that the Spurs win in the series.

You think he can kind of over.

This is now 4 games in plus the 5 from the regular season, like against Victor Webayama.

Can't he play better?

That's my point is, so, you know, a lot was made on the internet of Shay was asked, you know, hey, you like to make your teammates better.

How can you make clip, you know, how can you make, how can you make Chet better?

And he paused for a while and then he.

It was like, I don't know and then whatever.

I give him a pass on all of that because it's the it's after right after a game and you're not thinking about the next game necessarily you're thinking about what just happened to you, especially Shay is thinking about what just happened to him.

However, I also think a little bit of that at least, and I'm not inside SGA's head is the real answer is that Chet needs to get out of his own head about Victor Wemiyama.

That's the real answer, and there's nothing SGA can help him to do with that.

So if he was fumbling a little bit for something to say, that's the reason.

Wemby owns him and Wemby has made a point since he got into the league of owning him because Chet owned a bunch of their early, early matchups when they were what, 1314 years old, whatever it was.

And Wemby is a killer, man.

And I, I just don't know if being at home, someone finally talking to him, I don't know if the Thunder work with a mental coach.

Like, he's just got to be more aggressive.

He's just so passive sometimes against Wemy.

And it doesn't look like he believes he can win those matchups.

So how am I supposed to believe he's gonna win those matchups?

And Shay Gildris Alexander cannot help him with that.

I agree.

Um, I, I don't, I just don't have any confidence that it's going to go that direction.

I, I think we've seen.

What we've seen is what it is with Chet and Victor, where he's not going to be guarding him all that much.

That's not part of Oklahoma City's defensive strategy.

Um, when he goes to the rack.

Wemby's there, just hanging out there, ready.

I mean, he had a rejection in the first half.

That was classic.

Um, I, I think what Chet can do is he can make more 3-point shots, you know, play to his strengths.

He's the perimeter-oriented guy.

Uh, but as far as this matchup goes, I don't have any confidence kind of 9 games into the matchup this season that all of a sudden he's gonna turn the corner.

Uh, it would make a big difference, no question.

I mean, I think Chet obviously has to play better.

I think this game 5 though, a lot of pressure on Shay too.

Like he's, he's shooting what's sub 40% in this series.

He's shooting around 30-ish% from three-point range.

Um, you know, yeah, they've directed a lot of their defensive attention to him.

But even when they don't, he's just, he's almost overly aware of Wembayama when he gets into the paint, just almost too kind of jittery, which is understandable.

The guy's 8 ft tall, you know, it's, it's ridiculous, but he's got to speed up the game a little bit.

He's got to get into the paint.

He's got to keep getting to the free throw line.

He's got to have a breakout game in game 5.

Like I, I believe Victor Webayama is gonna be awesome in game 5.

I believe coming out of game 5 because he just seems, it's like, We, we always say like great players that they want the moment.

They want to play in the moment.

Victor loves this stuff.

Like he, he wants to play against the very best team in the very biggest moment on the very biggest stage.

Like that's what he wants.

I want to win MVP my 2nd or 3rd year.

I want to do absolutely.

He wants it.

I do think injuries are gonna play a little bit of a factor here.

Do you have intel?

AJ Mitchell doesn't sound like he's coming back.

That looked like kind of a nasty injury when it happened, I wouldn't, I didn't know what it was at that time.

And then, now you dealing with Jalen Williams, you got, that's what I mean.

I wouldn't play with that hamstring.

It's been, I mean, look, and the Spurs, like the Spurs aren't listing anybody in the injury report, but like De'Aaron Fox is definitely hobbled with that ankle sprain and Harper also Harper too right, yeah, but De'Aaron Fox being able.

Able to play through it and I don't think it's a, a toughness thing on the Thunder side.

I think sometimes you cannot play basketball with certain injuries, um, but Fox being able to play through it has really helped, you know, the, the turnovers, right?

Was it Stefan Cassel had 22 turnovers in the first two games, 20, there's, yeah, something like that, right.

So he had what, 2 last night or something like that, like.

The fact that there can just be, even if you're banged up, if you can be a body on the floor, that makes a difference.

With Shay, you say the pressure is gonna be on him.

It is gonna be on him because A, he's supposed to be the MVP, right?

He beat Wemy out for the MVP.

Show us.

B, he's the one who can, you know, power through anything and most consistent and blah blah blah.

But also the pressure is gonna be on him because the two guys who happen to be hurt if they are not playing that game are the other shot creators on the floor.

And, and it really is gonna be so much more on Shay's shoulders.

Yeah, I, I think a lot of them, Shay, Chet, this is their season right now.

This is, this is where they have to step up and make big plays, and I, I just have a lot more confidence that San Antonio is gonna make those plays going to Game 5.

I'm, I'm excited to see it.

I think it's gonna be an awesome game, but I have more confidence in the Spurs, uh, right now.