Spurs shut down Thunder in dominant Game 4 win to even series

[p]The 22-year-old French 7-foot-4 (2.24m) center shot 11-of-22 from the floor, 3-of-7 from three-point range, and added eight rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots, and two steals in 31 minutes for the Spurs.[/p][p]Host [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/san-antonio-spurs/IwmkErSH/"]San Antonio[/a] pulled level 2-2 in the best-of-seven playoff series with game five on Tuesday in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/oklahoma-city-thunder/0fHFHEWD/"]Oklahoma City[/a] and game six back in San Antonio on Thursday.[/p][p]The Spurs seek their first trip to the NBA Finals since winning the crown in 2014, while the Thunder hope to become the NBA's first back-to-back champions since [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/golden-state-warriors/SxUtXqch/"]Golden State[/a] in 2017-2018.[/p][embed guid="2cebae37-ca38-45ef-b03b-734aac86e8d5" url="https://x.com/NBA/status/2058743918250893513?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Thunder had been unbeaten on the road in this year's playoffs but were foiled in a bid to reach 6-0 by a strong Spurs defensive effort.[/p][p][b]"We were not surprised,"[/b] said [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wembanyama-victor/jFmM1MFl/"]Wembanyama[/a], who credited the Spurs' domination to watching[b] "a lot of film, pretty much, the last 24 to 48 hours."[/b][/p][p]The Spurs stretched their lead as large as 25 points while the Thunder were only ahead by a single point.[/p][p]NBA Most Valuable Player [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gilgeous-alexander-shai/d6TE5wgc/"]Shai Gilgeous-Alexander[/a] led the Thunder with 19 points.[/p][embed guid="ea64b66c-f02c-4492-aacb-ebefbc0d9112" url="https://x.com/barstoolsports/status/2058713929132409271?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Oklahoma City won an NBA-best 64 games this season, with the Spurs second on 62 victories.[/p][p]Wembanyama sank a half-court shot at the buzzer -- the longest made basket of his career -- to give the Spurs a 50-38 half-time lead, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year finishing the first half with 22 points.[/p][p][b]"We needed that momentum going into the second half,"[/b] San Antonio's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vassell-devin/hIJfdJJJ/"]Devin Vassell[/a] said.[/p][p]Wemby had scored six of his 11 first-quarter points in a 16-0 Spurs run for an early 23-8 lead.[/p][p]The Spurs opened the third quarter with a 15-5 run to seize their biggest lead to that point at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/basketball/oklahoma-city-thunder-0fHFHEWD/san-antonio-spurs-IwmkErSH/?mid=A1knSoiU"]65-43[/a], and Oklahoma City could not catch San Antonio from there.[/p]