Oklahoma
Game Four Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
After stealing home court advantage with a thrilling victory in Game One, the San Antonio Spurs had it taken away from them in a Game Three loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now the stakes are even higher in Game Four, as the Spurs try to avoid going down 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals.
So far, the Thunder have made the most impactful adjustments in the series. They’ve put a big man on Victor Wembanyama to keep him from dominating the paint, played with a lot of physicality on both ends, and relied on their bench scorers to hit open shots when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander faced double teams. Now, after losing two games in a row, the Spurs will need to counter OKC’s counters to even up the series.
They’ll try to do it at seemingly full health. De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper avoided the injury report for Game Four, but remain hobbled as they both deal with lower-body injuries. Meanwhile, the Thunder will be without Ajay Mitchell and potentially Jalen Williams, removing two important ball-handlers who support SGA.
Only 15 teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Playoffs (including two this year). Tying the series at 2-2 significantly increases the Spurs’ odds of making the NBA Finals. They’ll need all hands on deck to do that in front of their home crowd.
Watch: NBC / Peacock | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Injuries: No injuries to report.
Thunder Injuries: Thomas Sorber – Out (knee), Ajay Mitchell – Out (calf), Jalen Williams – Questionable (hamstring)
The Thunder’s bench outscored the Spurs’ bench by 53 points in Game Three. San Antonio’s bench unit has been largely ineffective in the series so far. Keldon Johnson has struggled to score for the majority of the playoffs. Harper is dealing with an injury. Luke Kornet is constantly attacked at the rim. No one else has stepped up to provide a spark when the starters sit. For most of the season, the Spurs were seen as a deep team. Their depth is getting exposed against OKC. The Spurs’ bench doesn’t have to outscore the Thunder’s backups to win the series, but they can’t be completely played off the floor. Just a slight improvement in their play would go a long way toward tying the series.
So far, the Spurs’ strategy for guarding the Thunder’s star guard has been to get the ball out of his hands and make someone else beat them. That strategy backfired in Game Three, as Gilgeous-Alexander made the Spurs pay by swinging the ball to shooters for open threes. The Thunder shot 17-38 (45%) from three in Game Three, and most of those were lightly contested. Perhaps the adjustment for Game Four is making SGA beat the Spurs with one-on-one scoring. San Antonio can use multiple defenders to guard him one-on-one to avoid foul trouble, but they don’t need to send multiple bodies at him every time he crosses half-court. It’s a simple adjustment, but it could help them avoid the three-point barrage they saw in Game Three.
San Antonio has been at its best this postseason when they are getting out in transition or pushing the ball ahead after a miss. Their offense has slowed down majorly against the Thunder. They aren’t turning OKC. over, and are getting bogged down in a half-court game that better suits the Thunder. Even if they aren’t able to get steals to get easy buckets in transition, the Spurs have to speed up the game to give themselves a better chance. That means pushing the ball quickly after misses and makes, looking to attack the rim before the Thunder get set.
After having one pledge in their 2027 recruiting class for about a month and a half, the Cowboys picked up two more within the past week.
Broken Arrow defensive back Bryson “BB” Brown announced his commitment to Oklahoma State on Saturday. He joins Pryor receiver Cooper Hooker as in-state pledges to pick the Pokes this week, and both join Iowa Colony (TX) quarterback Carson White as the Cowboys’ three commitments.
Listed at 6-feet, 186 pounds, Brown is the No. 731 player in the Rivals Industry ranking, which tabs him as the No. 80 safety in the 2027 class and the No. 13 player from the state of Oklahoma. He picked OSU over offers from Arkansas, Kansas, Florida State, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State and others.
MaxPreps had stats for eight of Brown’s games during his junior season, where he had 31 tackles and a tackle for loss playing at a more traditional safety spot and some work at nickel.
Brown will also bring track speed with him to Stillwater. Athletic.net credited Brown with a 10.90 100 meters at his regional track meet earlier this month, and he has a 10.8 time on his X profile.
The OSU staff prioritized Brown early. Eric Morris was posing for a photo with Brown at his school on Jan. 21, not too long after Morris got the job. Brown announced in early March will take an official visit to Stillwater from June 4 to June 6. Two days after he made that announcement, he was posing with OSU defensive backs coaches Jordan Malone and Julian Wilson for a photo. Then earlier this week Malone, Wilson and defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity visited Brown at his home.
So, the Cowboys’ class sits at three, but will only continue to grow over the coming months as official visits get rolling. The Cowboys’ staff seems to be after another Broken Arrow DB in Noah Gillespie, who this week also shared a photo of Cassity, Wilson and Malone visiting him. On top of that, four-star athlete Hunter Haug included OSU in his Top 5 earlier this week.
In the series opener Wembanyama became the youngest player in NBA history to score 40 points and make 20 rebounds in a play-off game as the Spurs won 122-115.
He finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds in game two, which the Spurs lost 122-113.
“My shooting splits aren’t terrible,” said 22-year-old Wembanyama.
“I need to facilitate better, rebound the ball better, push their defence a little bit further and see how much they need to help with my team-mates and feed them.”
The Thunder scored 76 points off the bench at Frost Bank Center in game three, the most in a conference finals game since the 16-team play-off format was introduced in 1984.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for two seasons in a row, scored 26 points and made 12 assists for the Thunder, while Jared McCain scored 24.
Game four takes place at the same venue on Sunday (01:00 BST, Monday).
The winners of the Western Conference finals will meet the New York Knicks or the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, starting on 4 June.
The Knicks lead 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals before game three at Rocket Arena in Cleveland on Saturday (01:00 BST, Sunday).
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission said it is monitoring a saltwater disposal well blowout near Interstate-40 and Calumet after the incident was reported Friday morning.
A spokesperson for the commission said personnel were sent to the site shortly after the incident was reported on Friday.
The commission said it will continue to monitor the site, evaluate conditions, and determine whether additional action is necessary.
The commission said the operator hired a third-party company to assist with containment and cleanup efforts.
This is a developing story.
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