The San Antonio Spurs have also won the third matchup of the season against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Texans, led by Victor Wembanyama, defeated the reigning champions 117-102.
The Thunder have lost five games this season, three of them against San Antonio. The Spurs are slowly becoming the champions’ nemesis, who couldn’t come up with much offensively after the break. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (22 points, 7/19 FG) kept his 20-point streak alive, but it wasn’t the Canadian’s best game.
Overall, the Thunder shot poorly from outside and also struggled from mid-range. San Antonio, on the other hand, was able to rely on Victor Wembanyama (19, 11 rebounds) and the guard trio of De’Aaron Fox (29, 12/19), Stephon Castle (19, 8/11) and rookie Dylan Harper (12). Isaiah Hartenstein (13, 5/7 FG, 12 rebounds, 3 assists) was one of the Thunder’s better players.
Defense was optional at first, with the elite Thunder defense in particular struggling to make any headway. Fox (13 points in the first quarter) in particular was able to do as he pleased, with San Antonio sinking 71 percent of their shots from the field. OKC didn’t shoot quite as well, but kept pace initially thanks to a few offensive rebounds. Nevertheless, the Spurs led 43-38 after the first quarter.
Spurs confident in the end
This lead grew steadily because San Antonio once again bet that the Thunder would not make enough jumpers. And that was confirmed at first. Fox, on the other hand, remained hot and Wembanyama also had some good minutes. At times, the visitors led by 14 points, and at halftime it was still 69-60.
After that, the Thunder finally cooled off, with only one of twelve three-pointers (Alex Caruso) going through the net, and SGA suddenly missing a few shots. The Spurs, on the other hand, played well as a team, made few mistakes, and continued to rely on their strong guards, who consistently created good shots. As a result, the Spurs had almost 100 points on the board after just three quarters against a historically good defense (95-79).
A comeback was initially lacking. Isaiah Joe reduced the deficit to single digits with a three-pointer, but Wemby had the answer from outside. It was only when the Frenchman returned to the bench that there were easier finishes, but OKC simply couldn’t close the gap.