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OKLAHOMA CITY — The joy of a series like the Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs rests in the unknowns and changing narratives game-to-game.

Just when you think one team has an advantage, has figured out the other opponent and taken one step closer to a series victory, the other team responds, altering the discourse and direction of the series.

From “How in the world can the Thunder stop Victor Wembanyama?” to “Injuries are too much for the Spurs to overcome” to “The Thunder’s depth is overwhelming the Spurs” to “Can the Thunder find enough offense with two injured playmakers?” and back to “Wembanyama is on a mission,” this series has taken appropriate twists and turns and back-and-forths deserving of two teams who each won 60-plus regular season games.

As Thunder coach Mark Daigneault has offered throughout his team’s playoff runs, and as he said again Sunday after the Spurs evened the series at 2-2 with a 103-82 victory in Game 4, “There’s a reason we talk about getting to zero every game. We played great the other night. We went and earned those two wins and none of that carried over and nothing from (Game 4) will carry over in Game 5. That’s a blank slate. We have the same exact opportunity that they do to go get that game.”

Who takes a 3-2 series lead? Who will try to close out the series in Game 6?

Here are three things to watch in Game 5 Tuesday (8 ET, NBC/Peacock):

1. Which Wembanyama and which Chet Holmgren will we get?

Wembanyama produced a game for the ages in the series opener, saw a drop in production in the next two games and answered with 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals in Game 4.

Asking him to repeat Game 1’s performance is unfair but doing what he did in Game 4 can be replicated, and if he’s close to the numbers, it puts the Spurs in an advantageous position to win. No guarantee but a good chance.

The Thunder deserve credit for slowing down Wembanyama in Games 2 and 3, and their goal is to limit his touches at the rim where it’s difficult to stop the 7-foot-4 Frenchman.

This is a difficult series for Holmgren on both ends of the court. If he’s not guarding Wembanyama or Luke Kornet, another 7-footer, he’s chasing a smaller player around the perimeter. On offense, he has to contend with Wembanyama’s defense.

In the Thunder’s two losses in the conference finals, he’s shooting 33.3%, and in the two victories, he’s shooting 58.8%. The Thunder don’t need 20 and 10 from him. But efficient offense will help.

Daigneault said the team’s overall offensive issues didn’t help Holmgren’s individual cause in Game 4.

“We went to him a little bit at different times,” Daigneault said. “But I just thought the global approach offensively didn’t benefit anybody. It was more of a five-man issue and us holistically.”

2. Elite defenses focused on stopping stars

The Thunder had the No. 1 defense, and the Spurs had the No. 3 defense during the regular season. These two teams get after it defensively. Wembanyama won his first Kia Defensive Player of the Year award and was unanimously named to the All-Defensive First Team, and teammate Stephon Castle just missed making the All-Defensive second team.

Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren was on the first team, and teammate Cason Wallace made the second team.

In this series, both teams have made it difficult to get into offense and score. They have pressured each other into turnovers and have tried to limit stars from controlling the game. For the Thunder, that means slowing Wembanyama at the rim, and for the Spurs, that means trying to make someone not named Shai Gilgeous-Alexander make plays.

In the time Castle defended Gilgeous-Alexander, he held the MVP to six points on 2-for-6 shooting.

“Best perimeter defender in the league,” said Spurs guard Devin Vassell. “And he holds himself to that standard. He buys in all the time. He’s physical. He knows how to slide his feet, has quick hands and is just a pest the whole game. You don’t want to get beat up all game – getting hit, getting hit, getting hit, and that’s what Steph does.”

In Game 4, the Thunder committed 20 turnovers, shot 33% from the field and shot just 6-for-33 on 3-pointers.

“You have to look at the process in a clear-eyed manner and see what corrections you can make,” Daigneault said. “And I think some of the turnovers and some of the shooting was a result of the way we played and a result of the way they defended. I’d never take away credit from them. It’s a little bit of both probably. It wasn’t our night, but at the same time we could have been a lot better, and we need to be a lot better in Game 5 if we want to compete in the game.”

3. Health continues to impact West finals

At the start of the West finals, San Antonio’s depth was tested due to injuries. Now, it’s the Thunder’s depth that is strained due to injuries.

Starting forward Jalen Williams (strained left hamstring) missed two games against the Phoenix Suns, all four against the Los Angeles Lakers and returned for the Spurs series only to re-aggravate the hamstring, forcing him to miss most of Game 2 and all of Games 3 and 4.

Williams is a gametime decision Tuesday, and he would give the Thunder another offensive option, both as a scorer and playmaker, as well as providing another physical presence offensively and defensively. The Thunder have missed his 17.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.3. assists and 1.3 steals per game in the playoffs.

Ajay Mitchell, who got the starting nod in place of Williams, sustained a strained right calf in Game 3 and sat out Game 4. Mitchell, who is averaging 15.1 points and 4.3 assists in the playoffs, has been ruled out for Game 5, according to the NBA’s official injury report.

“The group we had can play a lot better than we played (in Game 4) as well,” Daigneault said.

Regardless of how deep the Thunder are, losing two double-digit scorers and players who can initiate offense has a trickle-down effect on the rest of the rotation.

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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.