The Spurs huge in defense, SGA muzzled: the key to victory in Game 4!

The San Antonio Spurs forced the Oklahoma City Thunder to score “only” 82 points in Game 4. A defensive masterclass resulting from a tactical adaptation which could be important in the rest of the series.

82 points: a total of extremely rare weakness for the Thunder. It’s quite simple, the last time Oklahoma stayed below 90 in a regular season game was April 10, 2022. The last time this happened to them in the Playoffs? August 29, 2020 in the bubble.

Limiting a team to 82 points in a Playoff match in 2026 can be called an achievement.

According to @ESPNInsights, it’s been… 4 years since the Thunder had scored less than 90 points in a game, and even 6 years in the Playoffs!

Masterclass défensive des Spurs ! 😤😤 pic.twitter.com/23u0Q6KvFF

— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 25, 2026

The San Antonio Spurs are capable of some pretty unique defensive feats. From the personnel already, with a Victor Wembanyama in control tower and a Stephon Castle on the outside, but also because they are capable of adapting tactically.

Just yesterday, we were wondering if the Eperons should take less of a double take on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. A strategy that worked well for the Lakers, but the Canadian is strong and adapts quickly. At the start of these Conference Finals, he made it ineffective with 35 decisive passes for 7 turnovers in the first three matches. His teammates were given confidence, too, and the Thunder regularly managed to accelerate offensively.

But everything changed this Sunday evening in Texas. Quickly, Stephon Castle was sent on a mission to the double MVP. And if sometimes, teammates – like a huge Devin Vassell – came to take over, the two-person takes have completely disappeared.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander probably had his most complicated match of the entire season last night.

19 points
6/15 shooting
4 ball losses

Second time this season that he has fallen below the 20 mark, he has never been able to find his rhythm.

Huge collective job from Spurs. pic.twitter.com/uD4lzNGITi

— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 25, 2026

The most important thing then was to hold his man very well and to limit him as much as possible individually. Mission perfectly executed since SGA finished the match with 19 points at 6/15 shooting and 7 decisive passes for 4 ball losses.

Above all, by doing this, the Spurs stopped deliberately leaving 3-point shots open, which had greatly handicapped them during certain sequences of the series until then. Last night, Mark Daigneault’s players shot 6/33 from behind the arc.

ðŸŽ™ï¸ Mark Daigneault, on his team’s match and the absences of Ajay Mitchell and Jalen Williams:

“We weren’t sharp enough, precise enough to disturb them. They were very good. They are to be congratulated, but our group can play much better than they did… pic.twitter.com/dnTtqL1Cw7

— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 25, 2026

Suddenly, valuable players like Alex Caruso became less usable. He only played 14 minutes and took only one shot. Overall, the entire bench could be much better contained. Kenrich Williams and Isaiah Joe showed up in Garbage Time, but no player on “Team B” shot more than 50%.

If Dylan Harper’s teammates were able to choose this strategy, it is also because the Thunder were deprived of all their secondary creators; very useful for organizing the game when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has to let go of the ball. Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell were absent while Jared McCain (4 points at 1/10 shooting) could just as easily have been.

Under these conditions, it was “simpler” to turn off the main engine and thus prevent the entire machine from operating. In the first half, the Thunder only scored 38 points and the game was almost already over.

At a press conference, Victor Wembanyama compared Playoff adjustments to a game of chess:

“There are definitely similarities, as in any strategy game. It’s a lot of fun playing in the Playoffs. At a certain point, especially when a series drags on, everyone knows the opposing team almost by heart. But I would say that it is mainly the coaches who carry the weight of this chess game. »

ðŸŽ™ï¸ Victor Wembanyama on the similarities between Playoff adjustments and… failures:

“There are definitely similarities, as in any strategy game. It’s a lot of fun playing in the Playoffs. At some point, especially when a series drags on, everyone… pic.twitter.com/GbDcyQlWap

— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 25, 2026

Credit to Mitch Johnson therefore and a question that comes with it. Now that the Spurs coach has revealed new cards, can they be used with the same effectiveness for the rest of the series?

Because the Thunder is also a monster of adaptation. Between last year’s Playoffs and this season’s they have, quite simply, never lost two games in a row. And if any player knows how to find answers to a defense, it’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He would not have scored more than 20 points in each regular game otherwise.

There will perhaps also be returns from the absentees or the best matches from the lieutenants. But less easy for the latter to shine when they are not playing 4 against 3.

SCORE FINAL, 103-82 SPURS 🔥🔥🔥

Almost perfect match for San Antonio despite a lack of skill behind the arc (9/33) and on the throwing line (24/32)

Victor Wembanyama was gigantic with his 33 points, perfectly complemented by a pair of untenable Vassell/Castle backs… pic.twitter.com/rEUnoYQZcJ

— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 25, 2026

The series starts again in Oklahoma at 2-2 with new doubts for the Thunder and new certainties for the Spurs, but everything is evolving so quickly in this series that the cards can quickly be reshuffled. See you on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday for an absolutely unmissable Game 5.