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Victor Wembanyama was +4 in his minutes during Game 3, but the Spurs ended up losing to the Thunder by 15.<\/p>\n
SAN ANTONIO (AP) \u2014 It\u2019s tempting, but the\u00a0San Antonio Spurs\u00a0will not play Victor Wembanyama every minute of regulation against\u00a0Oklahoma City even as they trail the Thunder 2-1 in the Western Conference Finals<\/a>.<\/p>\n Instead, San Antonio has to find a way to play better when\u00a0Wembanyama\u00a0rests because Oklahoma City is dominating when the 7-foot-4 star from France is on the bench.<\/p>\n The Thunder are two wins away from returning to the NBA Finals with\u00a0Game 4 on Sunday\u00a0in San Antonio<\/a>.<\/p>\n Oklahoma City has won two straight by an average of 12 points since Wembanyama had 41 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks in 49 minutes during San Antonio\u2019s 122-115 double-overtime victory<\/a>\u00a0in Game 1 on Monday.<\/p>\n As the Spurs seek solutions, playing Wembanyama more minutes is intriguing but not viable.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea is there,\u201d San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said, smiling, \u201cbut, yeah, I think as we\u2019ve seen it, him fresh or somewhat fresh is still the best. \u2026 We don\u2019t want to sacrifice our style of play and the identity that we\u2019ve been building since October.\u201d<\/p>\n The Spurs were a plus-4 in Wembanyama\u2019s 39 minutes in Game 3\u2019s\u00a0123-108 loss to the Thunder<\/a>\u00a0on Friday. That number may seem inconsequential, but San Antonio was minus-15 as a team and its main reserves were in the negative by double digits.<\/p>\n MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>\u00a0had a team-high 26 points, but the rest of the starters combined for 21 points.<\/p>\n Their scoring wasn\u2019t needed Friday.<\/p>\n Oklahoma City\u2019s\u00a0bench outscored\u00a0San Antonio\u2019s 76-23<\/a> and were a combined 14-for-29 on 3-pointers. The 76 bench points are the most in the conference finals since the NBA went to the 16-team playoff format in 1984.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve dealt with a lot of injuries throughout the year, but it\u2019s built us,\u201d Thunder center Jaylin Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s built us as a team. It\u2019s built us as players to be ready for the moment, to be ready when your name is called.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams had a playoff career-high 18 points<\/a>, and fellow reserve Jared McCain finished with 24 points<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Spurs opened Game 3 on a 15-0 run, the longest run to open a game in the conference finals since the play-by-play era began in 1997. San Antonio led 19-4 when Wembanyama subbed out with seven minutes remaining in the quarter but the Thunder cut the deficit to 24-19 when he returned with 3:44 remaining in the first.<\/p>\n The Thunder\u2019s depth also allows them to throw multiple bodies and looks to wear on Wembanyama and the Spurs.<\/p>\n \u201cI know I\u2019m not going to play as many minutes as (Wembanyama) is, so the minutes I\u2019m out there I\u2019m trying to make his job as tough as I can make it,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n Making matters worse for the Spurs is two of their primary playmakers and scorers are battling injuries.<\/p>\n