NBA playoffs: Victor Wembanyama helps San Antonio Spurs level series

The San Antonio Spurs evened their best-of-seven NBA Western Conference Finals series at 2-2 with a 103-82 home victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, who criticized his performance Led from the front with three kills, 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals in their game.

“We just responded,” said the 22-year-old Frenchman. “It wasn’t anything amazing. It wasn’t magic. We just did what needed to be done.”

“The series is not over.”

The Spurs built a 15-point lead before the Thunder cut the deficit to five with just over a minute left in the second quarter.

But the Spurs stormed back to within seven points before the break, topped by a mid-court three-pointer from Wembanyama.

It was a solid defensive showing from the Spurs with the Thunder’s 38 first half points being their season low.

The reigning NBA champions’ total number of games since December 2, 2021 was also the fewest for the franchise and the fewest in playoff games since 2020.

With the outcome virtually decided, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who top scored with 19 points, sat out the entire fourth quarter.

No other Thunder player scored more than 12 runs.

Game five will take place in Oklahoma City on Tuesday (01:30 BST Wednesday) and game six in San Antonio on Thursday (01:30 BST Friday).

In the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks Cleveland leads the Cavaliers 3-0 And could wrap up that streak with the NBA Finals starting on June 4 in Cleveland on Monday (01:00 BST, Tuesday).