The Spurs’ defense dominates the Thunder, and Game 4 may turn the chessboard in this series

The San Antonio Spurs evened the Western Conference finals at two games apiece after a 103-82 Game 4 victory over the Thunder on the strength of a complete defensive performance.

Hey, it might have been perfect. I think they did at least one thing wrong at one point. But you would have to be some kind of criminal to find it, because this was a work of art beyond all else. And the thing is, it could be sustainable as the series shifts to what will be a brutal Game 5 on Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

What did Spurs do differently?

San Antonio’s young coach, Mitch Johnson, made a big change in Game 4 by withdrawing all high traps and double teams from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and committed to covering most of the game with one defender and tight ends.

That last part is an important note, because it’s not like San Antonio just let SGA play one in the open. You will kill that type of coverage. They still help take down shooters, but by doing it in a pinch instead of using a double team as soon as SGA crosses half the field (as they did every time in the first three games) they stay close enough to their shooters to have time to fly out and reasonably compete with the 3 when SGA is taken out.

The result: Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Jaylin Williams and Jared McCain, who combined for 68 points and 12 3-pointers in Game 3, scored only 12 points on two 3-pointers in Game 4. As a result, the Thunder bench that outscored San Antonio 76-23 in Game 3 in the bench 3 battle on Sunday was only a 3-2 bench victory.

If OKC doesn’t win much of the bench battle, that means the starters will have to beat the Spurs with Victor Wembanyama on the court. And so far, that hasn’t happened. In this series, the Spurs beat Oklahoma City by 50 points with Wemby down. They are out of 46 too. Do the math and that’s almost a 100 point turnaround over four games based on one guy on or off the court.

In other words, the Thunder were winning this series with their bench in non-Wemby minutes. Caruso was like that i the story. The 29% regular season 3-point shooter has replaced Steph Curry in the first three games by making 14 3-pointers at a 61% clip. He didn’t score a single point in Game 4, and OKC shot just 18% from 3 as a team.

Some of it was shooting variation, but most of it was a huge competition with their shooting as the Spurs stopped ignoring it to send more bodies to SGA. It turns out that 3 shots are very difficult if you are not left wide open. Who can say.

Did SGA at least score big?

No. And that’s the real revelation here. SGA scored just 19 points on 6-of-15 shooting. If SGA had scored 40 in Game 3, the Spurs would have been out of luck. They tried two covers, the shooters killed them; they tried to cover one and he killed them. But that didn’t happen for three reasons.

• 1. San Antonio has great perimeter defenders. Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell, all these guys have proven throughout this series that they can stay in front of SGA (within reason) and use physical pressure that truly affects his rhythm and, ultimately, production.
• 2. San Antonio was still very helpful to SGA. So these defenders were not on a perfect island. The Spurs continued to crowd SGA’s driving lanes and swung up and down like vultures whenever they gained any sort of advantage. But again, it’s about the places they helped. If it’s 35 feet from the basket, you can’t get back to the shooters. If the elbow, anywhere really inside the 3-point line, you can as long as you are fully committed to the challenge. Spurs were completely committed. You can come up with as many defense schemes as you want, but in the end they all come with effort. Top to bottom, the Spurs were packed all night.
• 3. SGA had an outdoor game. Part of that was San Antonio’s defense, but we know SGA can beat any defense on any night. This was just not for him. It could easily be Game 5.

This will be very interesting if SGA hangs 40 pieces in Game 5 and the Spurs go down 3-2. With their backs against the wall, will they still have the courage to shut down one SGA? Or they will go back to playing the percentages and hope that Alex Caruso and company cannot dominate. It probably won’t get to that point, and the Spurs can continue with this defensive game plan because of this last factor.

Will Ajay Mitchell play in Game 5?

Being down Jalen Williams hurts, but with Mitchell the Thunder still have a legitimate No. 2 scorer to build the offense around. It’s no coincidence that OKC entered Game 4 outscoring opponents by 25.1 points per 100 possessions in a playoff game with Mitchell down, Cleaning the Glass per.

First, he can carry the offense by stretching if the SGA doesn’t have it and the shooters don’t shoot; Mitchell is making 53% of his shots as an option shooter in the playoffs, per NBA.com, and is a top-10 scorer on drives. But also as a tandem scorer with SGA while the MVP is cooking, because now Mitchell, who scored 10 points in the top 10 drives this past season, will attack against the moving defenses.

Williams can fill that role as well, but there’s no indication right now that he’ll be ready to go anytime soon. Mitchell’s exit in Game 5 will allow San Antonio to expose Shai again and again knowing that even if he takes 40, who else will help him if the shooters are counted and there is no secondary scorer?

For my money, Mitchell’s condition will be the biggest story leading up to Game 5. But in all honesty, even if he plays, and even if he’s not compromised, the Spurs may have already flipped this series. I’d still call it a 50/50 deal, but they made a move that changed the entire chessboard on Sunday.

The thought was that one shutout by the MVP meant for a kill, but instead it ended up holding the Thunder, who didn’t crack the 50-point mark until the 3:28 mark in the third quarter, to their lowest scoring output since 2020.

The champions can definitely win this series. They have the home field for Game 5, and in a 2-2 best-of-seven series, the winner of Game 5 has historically gone on to win the series 82% of the time. They will definitely take their chances, but they also know they have a big problem on their hands with this new deal San Antonio has made.