The China Mail - Wemby stars as Spurs rip Thunder to level NBA playoff series

The 22-year-old French 7-foot-4 (2.24m) center 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.

Host San Antonio pulled level 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.

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.

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.

"We were not surprised," said Wembanyama, who credited the Spurs' domination to watching "a lot of film, pretty much, the last 24 to 48 hours."

The Spurs stretched their lead as large as 25 points while the Thunder were only ahead by a single point.

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, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year finishing the first half with 22 points.

"We needed that momentum going into the second half," San Antonio's Devin Vassell said.

"Wemby" had scored six of his 11 first-quarter points in a 16-0 Spurs run for an early 23-8 lead.

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.

J.Thompson--ThChM