National Basketball Association

Thunder faced with must-win against Spurs in Game 4

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:05 p.m. ET

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Russell Westbrook is willing to find out if less means more to help the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The star guard is thinking shooting less and passing more as the Thunder try to knot their Western Conference semifinal series at two games apiece Sunday in Oklahoma City.

While Westbrook had 31 points in Friday night's 100-96 defeat to the Spurs, he needed 31 field-goal attempts to get there. He admitted that contributed to the Thunder lacking an offensive rhythm for most of the contest despite erasing a 15-point halftime deficit.

"Too many shots," said Westbrook, who ranked ninth in the NBA with 18.1 shots per game. "I've got to do a better job getting guys shots. I've got to get other guys involved, especially to beat this team. Even though I had some shots I (usually) make, I've got to read and find ways to get guys shots. I take the blame."

Twenty-five shots may be the cutoff where the Thunder sink or swim. Including the playoffs, the Thunder are 7-8 when Westbrook takes at least 24 shots, but that record changes to 1-5 when he puts up 27 or more. In those 15 games, he's also a better facilitator for his teammates on the lower end of that range of shots - Westbrook has a 2.33 assist-to-turnover ratio taking 24 or 25 shots but a 1.81 mark with 27 or more attempts.

"We know he's going to be very aggressive," Spurs guard Tony Parker said. "They go down, we know he's going to be extra aggressive, so we just make sure that everybody's paying attention to weak side defense. He's coming at us. That's who he is. He's got a lot of energy, and he's just going to keep attacking."

Westbrook was 11 of 25 in Oklahoma City's Game 2 victory.

That doesn't mean the Spurs can slack off Kevin Durant, who has been effective when he's gotten the ball. He's gone 19 for 30 inside the arc over the last two games - 21 for 37 overall - and made all five of his shots in the paint Friday night.

The Spurs likely will keep attacking through LaMarcus Aldridge. He finished with 24 points on 8-of-21 shooting, but that was an improvement for the Thunder after Aldridge torched them for 79 points on 75 percent shooting in the first two games. While he was slightly out of sync, the forward also appears prepared to make adjustments to what made the Thunder relatively more successful.

"They pick their spots when they double," said Aldridge, whose eight baskets came from 13 feet out or further Friday. "When I tried to go quick to the baseline, they doubled early and I think that's their scheme - if I try to go baseline, then they're going to double team me. Other than that they played me straight up."

San Antonio was held to 20 points in the paint - the only other time it scored that few dating to the 2000-01 postseason came in 2004 against the Los Angeles Lakers - after racking up 90 in the first two games. But proving their versatility, the Spurs connected on 10 of 19 from 3-point range in the Game 3 victory as they continued to be ruthless from deep.

"They made tough 2s, they made 3s," Durant said. "We did a good job of making them shoot tough shots, but they made them."

The Spurs have connected at a 45.8 percent clip from beyond the arc in the postseason, well above their 37.5 percent mark for the season.

The series returns to San Antonio for Game 5 on Tuesday.