Victor Wembanyama dribbled once at midcourt, glanced up at the clock winding down, and launched the ball from 43 feet away. It swished through cleanly as the buzzer sounded, sending the San Antonio Spurs and their fans into delirium and handing Oklahoma City something it rarely experiences: a crushing, unexpected blow.
The half-court shot in Game 4 on Sunday night capped a dominant 21-point second-half performance that tied the Western Conference Finals at two games apiece. The Spurs had trailed 2-1 to the defending NBA champion Thunder, who entered the postseason with the league's best regular-season record. Now the series heads to a decisive Game 5.
That Wembanyama needed to take such an improbable shot said everything about San Antonio's precarious position. The Spurs had built a nine-point lead by the end of the second quarter and led by 16 in the first half, but the Thunder's depth kept threatening to suffocate them. Oklahoma City's bench has been devastating, operating as though an endless supply of capable scorers can simply rotate in and pile on points while their stars rest.
Wembanyama's performance in Game 4 was urgent and almost single-handed. He put up 33 of the Spurs' 103 points while doing it in just 31 minutes, splitting his time between the court and recovery on a stationary bike in the tunnel during the fourth quarter when the lead was secure. His defensive presence remained suffocating throughout, a reminder that his value extends far beyond scoring.
The French star's shot in Game 4 echoed his heroics from Game 1, when he drilled a 32-footer with 19 seconds on the shot clock to force overtime. That shot came with real alternatives available, yet he took it anyway because his team's offensive engines were sputtering. He and his teammates knew rescue would have to come from the most unlikely places. In Game 1, his 41-point, 24-rebound performance nearly single-handedly pushed the Spurs past Oklahoma City, though the effort came at a cost: his starters played heavy minutes while the Spurs' bench was no match for the Thunder's rotating cast of capable reserves.
Games 2 and 3 revealed the vulnerability of that approach. Isaiah Hartenstein, Oklahoma City's 7-foot-4 center, deployed a strategy of physical embraces that evaded whistles, limiting Wembanyama's ability to operate in the paint. In Game 3, Wembanyama grabbed just four rebounds, an almost inaudible performance given what he is capable of producing on the boards. San Antonio's Game 1 triumph began to feel like a pyrrhic victory.
What stands out when measuring Wembanyama's importance is what happens when he sits. Luke Kornet, his backup, is a competent NBA player who could start for other teams. In this series, he has been virtually unplayable. On Sunday, Kornet played 13 minutes, compiled respectable numbers with six points and seven rebounds, and allowed the Thunder to outscore the Spurs by nine points during his time on the floor. When Wembanyama was on the court, the Spurs won by 29.
San Antonio's path to winning this series requires near-perfection from their star and acceptable performances from everyone else. DeAaron Fox and Dylan Harper are compromised. Devin Vassell and Stephon Castle are two-way players who can swing possessions but cannot carry the offensive load. The supporting cast is simply insufficient against an Oklahoma City team that plays with efficiency and depth that remains unmatched.
Yet there is something magnetic about watching Wembanyama produce these moments. His defensive instincts force opposing ball handlers to take different routes to the rim. His length forces harder work on every possession. His willingness to attempt the improbable when the moment demands it suggests a player who understands exactly what his team needs and when.
The Thunder remain the favorite, but Wembanyama has given the Spurs something that felt increasingly unlikely: a genuine chance to push this series to its limit.
Author James Rodriguez: "Wembanyama's carrying a team with real flaws into a Game 5 against the best team in the West, which is exactly what we drafted him to do."
Comments