Victor Wembanyama scored 33 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs in a 103-82 rout of Oklahoma City and level the NBA Western Conference Finals at two games each.
The 22-year-old French 7-foot-4 (2.24m) centre 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 on Sunday.
“I need to find ways to impact the game in many areas,” said Wembanyama. “I have a lot of responsibilities, but I’m here for it. All of us, we’re going to have to do things we didn’t sign up for.”
Hosts San Antonio pulled level at 2-2 in the best-of-seven playoff series, with Game Five on Tuesday in Oklahoma City and Game Six back in San Antonio on Thursday.
“This was our first deficit in the playoff series. We just responded,” Wembanyama said. “It was nothing amazing. It wasn’t magic. We just did what we needed to do. The series is far from over.”
Wembanyama knows what the Spurs must do to win the NBA title.
“We’ve got six more wins before we can rest,” he said.
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 Golden State in 2017-2018.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Wembanyama was aggressive to try and keep San Antonio from falling into a 3-1 series hole.
“Our competitive response all year has been pretty good, and he has been at the forefront of that,” Johnson said.
“Tonight he felt an obligation to set a tone for us in a variety of ways. The aggressiveness was a reflection of that… I think he wants that responsibility. He’s built for it.”
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.
“Any time we can turn defence into offence, turnovers and rebounding, that’s when we’re at our best,” Johnson said.
“We can get out and run and play and get out in pace. Our activity was great tonight, and we’re going to need to get better at it as the series moves on.”
Wembanyama is the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year [Darren Abate/AP]
The Spurs stretched their lead as large as 25 points, while the Thunder were only ahead by a single point.
“I’m not going to get into details, but in general, being more disciplined and just trusting the game plan even more,” Wembanyama said of the secret behind the Spurs’ defensive effort.
The NBA Defensive Player of the Year also cited coming together defensively as the Spurs forced 17 turnovers and made 11 steals.
“That’s super important,” said Wembanyama. “We’ve got good individual defenders, and when we connect, we’re able to hold teams to low scoring numbers.”
NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 19 points.
Oklahoma City won an NBA-best 64 games this season, with the Spurs second on 62 victories.
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 and himself 22 first-half points.
“I was just thinking shoot to score,” Wembanyama said. “I wasn’t messing around.”
The Spurs opened the third quarter with a 15-5 run to seize their biggest lead to that point at 65-43, and Oklahoma City could not catch San Antonio from there.
“We needed that momentum going into the second half,” San Antonio’s Devin Vassell said of the half-court “Wemby” hoop.
Vassell and Stephon Castle each scored 13 points for the Spurs, while De’Aaron Fox added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Timothy Tillman scored in the 86th minute, his first goal in more than two years, Thomas Hasal had five saves, and LAFC beat the Seattle Sounders 1-0 on Sunday night in the final MLS match before the 2026 World Cup break.
LAFC (7-5-3) ended a three-game losing streak and a four-game winless stretch.
LAFC has won six straight and is 9-0-1 at home against the Sounders in the regular season. Seattle has two wins at BMO Stadium in the MLS Cup playoffs, most recently a 2-1 victory in extra time to advance to the 2024 Western Conference final.
Tyler Boyd played a cross from the right side to the back post, where Tillman put away a sliding half-volley to give LAFC a 1-0 lead.
Hasal, who had his first shutout since 2022 for Vancouver, made his second consecutive start (his third this season) in the place the injured Hugo Lloris, who is out (leg) indefinitely. Lloris leads MLS with eight shutouts, including an MLS-record six straight to open the season.
Andrew Thomas had two saves for the Sounders (7-3-3).
Seattle has given up 11 goals this season, tied with Nashville — the points leader in all of MLS with 33 — for the fewest in the league.
The Sounders are 3-2-2 and have conceded just four goals on the road this season.
Seattle’s Danny Musovski subbed on for Paul Rothrock in the 69th minute and hit the crossbar with a shot from the center of the area in the 76th.
The Sounders lost 2-0 at home against the Galaxy on May 16 to snap a nine-game unbeaten streak dating to a 2-1 loss at Real Salt Lake on Feb. 28. The loss to the Galaxy also snapped Seattle’s 22-game home unbeaten streak across all competitions.
LAS VEGAS — Kelsey Plum scored a season-high 38 points, Erica Wheeler hit the go-ahead three-pointer late in the fourth quarter, and the Sparks defeated the Las Vegas Aces 101-95 on Saturday night.
A three-pointer by Wheeler capped an 8-0 run for the Sparks in the first minute of the fourth quarter that gave the Sparks a 80-73 lead. The Aces battled back and tied it at 90 on a jumper in the lane by Chelsea Gray and again at 94 on two free throws by A’ja Wilson.
Wheeler then took a pass from Plum and hit a 27-foot three-pointer with 1:15 remaining, giving the Sparks a 97-94 lead. The Aces missed a couple of three-pointers and a free throw on their final possessions while Dearica Hamby and Plum sealed the win with two free throws each.
Hamby and Cameron Brink each scored 16, Ariel Atkins had 11, and Rae Burrell added 10 for the Sparks (3-3). Wheeler had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Plum had nine assists.
Wilson scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Aces (4-2). Carter scored 23 points off the bench. NaLyssa Smith added 22 points, Gray 12 and Jewell Loyd 10.
A three-pointer by Smith gave the Aces a 57-48 lead early in the third quarter but Plum rallied the Sparks with five points and three assists as the Sparks surged ahead 60-57. Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the quarter and Las Vegas took a 73-72 lead to the final period.
Las Vegas, the reigning WNBA champions, saw a four-game winning streak end. The Aces had won 20 of their last 21 regular-season games after finishing the 2025 regular season on a 16-game winning streak.
