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San Antonio — The Oklahoma City Thunder take Game 3 over the San Antonio Spurs, mirroring what the Spurs accomplished in Game 1 by winning on the road.

After a rough start to the first quarter, where the Spurs went on a 15-point run before the Thunder scored at 8 minute mark. OKC recovered and got into a rhythm after that rough 4-minute stretch. The Thunder rallied behind their bench, which scored a total of 76 points in the victory. The final score of the game was Thunder 123 to the Spurs 108.

Game 3 takeaways

Thunder: Shai, consistently trapped and double-teamed throughout the game, responded by finding wide-open teammates to score. He finished with 26 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, and 12 assists in this victory. His ability to make those adjustments was crucial for the Thunder.

Going into this series, the Thunder’s bench depth was the x-factor. They came up big not only in this game but in these playoffs. They scored 76 points in Game 3, and now the series total is 183 points.

McCain, who had a good Game 2 with 12 points. He followed up with 24 points on 10-21 from the field. The other Williams had a great performance from the arc, scoring 18 points on 5-6 on three pointers. Alex Caruso had another big performance with 15 points, and Cason Wallace had 11 points.

The Thunder looked unstoppable in these last two games against the Spurs, who look like they have run out of gas late down the stretch in these games.

Chet Holmgren once again had a good game. But sometimes I forgot he was on the court with questionable moments like that blocked three-pointer he shot.

Spurs: These Spurs came out hot, and it looked similar to Game 1. They came out amazing, and the Thunder could not get a bucket to stop the bleeding. Then it fell apart in the second quarter, only scoring 20 points compared to the 31 points they scored in the first.

Wemby, who scored 26 points, looked gassed. That’s because every time he would go to the bench to get rest, the Thunder would go on a run. And the Spurs would put him back in after 2 minutes of rest. He was also ineffective on the defensive side of the ball; he had a defensive rating score of 127. The Thunder weren’t afraid of his presence in the paint. Jared McCain, who is a foot shorter than Wemby, went right at him a couple of times and scored.

Having De’Aron Fox back in the lineup didn’t help either. He was coming back from an ankle injury and wasn’t at 100%; he was more like 80% healthy. He looked good in the first half, but was silent in the second half. He looked to have injured his ankle even more in the second half, but came back on the floor.

Castle, who had a terrible shooting night, shot 1-8 from the field. He could not get a bucket unless it was a free throw. OKC targeted him by fouling him, and he could have been ejected after back-to-back fastbreak fouls from OKC, but he was held back.

Carter Bryant has looked unplayable when guarding Shai or anyone else. It wouldn’t be surprising if they play more Harrison Barnes next game.

It wasn’t all negative for the Spurs; they had Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie, who had great moments and performances. Vassell had 20 points on 6-12 from the field and the best defensive rating of the team with a 120 rating.

Look ahead to Game 4

Thunder: The Thunder come into Game 4 of this series up 2-1 on the Spurs. They’ve been making adjustments to either frustrate and force the Spurs to bring Wemby back on the court. They need to continue that plan. It showed in Game 3, down the stretch, Wemby was tired and wasn’t effective because of that.

They need to keep going at Fox, Castle, and Harper. These three are currently a weak spot for the Spurs. Castle has been ineffective this series epically on the offensive side of the ball. Force the ball into Castle’s hands and make him turn the ball over. Fox isn’t 100% back from injury. He looked like he got hurt even more on that ankle. Attack Fox and Harper since they’re not a 100%

Keep putting Hartenstein on Wemby in the paint. That’s another reason why Wemby is getting gassed late into the game. Chet Holmgren has been passable in these last two games. If you can get him going, the Thunder won’t have to rely on the bench.

If JDub does come back in Game 4, he needs to run with the bench players. Coming back in Game 1 and starting, he wasn’t himself because he hadn’t played in the playoffs yet until that game, and he was rusty. When they ran with the second unit, he came alive, so the Thunder needs to do that if he comes back at all this series.

Spurs: The Spurs are in trouble if they lose Game 4. They go down 3-1 in the series. Mitch Johnson needs to find ways to get other players going. Players that need to step up this series to win it are Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Stephon Castle. I would’ve put Fox here, but he’s not fully healthy yet.

Keldon Johnson came into these playoffs winning 6MOTY. He hasn’t looked like that same player at all in this series. He’s averaging 9.3 points per game on 34.6% from the field in this series. He is the one player on the bench for the Spurs who has to find his rhythm for them to have a chance.

Castle and Mitch Johnson need to create some plays to get Castle going. Castle is an integral piece, and if he’s getting 5 fouls as he did in Game 3, it’s not viable. He needs to find ways not to easily lose his temper and let his game talk for itself and not overthink anything, especially his shot. The Thunder are going to look at him as they’ve already been doing so; he needs to be better wwith ball and his shot selection.

Devin Vassell, in these last two games, has been a nice relief for Wemby. But he slowed down after a hot start in the second half of Game 2 and the beginning of Game 3. He needs to find his rhythm once again to relieve pressure from Wemby.

Mitch Johnson has to find ways to make the Thunder bench overthink and take bad shots. He also needs to needss to let Wemby rest. That can only be done if Mitch can spark his team, which he can. One thing I believe he should do is let Wemby rest for longer than 2 minutes, let him rest 3 or 4 minutes. 4 minutes might be too much, but they need him to be fully rested to hit his shots for a potential comeback if they’re in a position like that.

Prediction

This is a very much-needed victory for the Spurs. They can’t go down 3-1; it’s a hole that can be dug out of, a big, deep one at that. So my prediction for Game 4 is that the Spurs win it to tie the series 2-2. The final score being Spurs 108 to the Thunder’s 102.

Keldon Johnson shows why he was the 6MOTY. He finishes the game with 27 points on 50% from the field.

Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals will take place in San Antonio, TX, at 7:00 pm CT on NBC/Peacock.